Imagine trying to clean up a rapidly industrializing city of twelve million residents, whose coal consumption last year was thirty million tons, so that the world’s greatest athletes can come and inhale its air while engaging in every kind of physical activity in order to break world records. That is exactly Beijing’s predicament as it prepares to host this summer’s Olympic Games. Although the People’s Republic of China celebrates the green technology it has used to prepare for the Olympics (for example, innovations in waste management, cleaner transport systems and water treatment), even dubbing this year’s games the “Green Olympics,” air pollution remains a problem. Beijing hopes to reassure the public and the world that athletes will not have any health issues because of the bad air quality. The city’s official Blue Sky ratings daily measure the air pollution, with a rating of 500 as the worst air quality and a measure under 101 as a “Blue Sky” day. In 2007 Beijing met its goal of 245 “Blue Sky” days by a small margin.
The International Olympic Committee maintains that athletes should not experience any health issues due to air quality, although it recognizes that athletes competing in endurance sports—like mountain biking, the marathon, and the triathlon—may have a few difficulties. According to www.olympics.org, the Committee based its assessment on data that the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau collected from August 8-29 last year, and the fact that no health issues related to air quality were reported during the August 2007 test events.
The UN Environment Programme Report (UNEPR) also offers a conclusion about Beijing’s status. The Report praises the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) for accelerating environmental improvements across the city, specifically for their “phase-out of ozone-depleting chemicals and for the provision of energy efficiency and green energy appliances at buildings and sports venues.” The UNEPR also commends the city on the fact that more fuel-efficient vehicles have replaced older ones, concentrations of air pollutants such as sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide have decreased between 2000 and 2006, and more factories and plants are making the switch from coal to less polluting fuels like natural gas.
However, the city registers up to 1,200 cars and trucks to its roads each day, and since automobiles are one of the largest contributors to air pollution, Beijing is having trouble lowering its levels of some pollutants including carbon dioxide. On August 5, 2007, the measurement of fine-particle pollution was approximately four times above the level deemed safe by the World Health Organization (New York Times, “Beijing’s Olympic Quest”). Last year, the average concentration in Beijing of sulphur dioxide, a toxic gas emitted by coal and oil combustion, was ten times that of Los Angeles, a city infamous in the US for its smog.
Furthermore, the emergency measures that the BOCOG says may be necessary to lower pollution to a more acceptable level, like shutting down factories in the region and taking cars off the roads, are merely temporary.
Let us remember that the people at the highest risk are not the Olympic athletes, who will only be in the city for a few weeks, but rather the residents of Beijing. The city’s air pollution will continue to adversely affect its residents long after the athletes have gone home.
With all the recent focus on global warming, it is easy to forget about air pollution, although the two are closely linked and have many of the same causes. Air pollution is caused by chemicals, particles, and certain gases entering the atmosphere, usually through industrial processes like oil refining, coal burning, and even deposition of waste in landfills, which produces methane. Cows are also major producers of methane, which is why some environmental advocates advise eating less meat.
Not only is the sight of gray smog over a bustling city depressing, but inhaling that smog causes serious health problems. Air pollution affects every moment of people’s lives, because with each breath pollutants and toxins can enter the body. Asthma, bronchitis, and lung and heart diseases are just a few of the conditions that can result. The World Health Organization attributes 2.4 million deaths each year to the effects of air pollution. It is common knowledge by now that asthma is affecting increasing numbers of children all over the world. Asthma comes in various forms and degrees, but people affected by it can have allergic reactions to particles in the air, which makes it difficult for some to exercise or be outside. Just the fact that several times in the past year Beijing has had to strongly advise its residents to remain indoors during the day because of the air pollution is alarming. Is it not a sign that something has gone wrong when we cannot even go outside to get some fresh air?
Through the Clean Air Acts of the 1960s and 1970s, which allowed the US government to control industry’s emissions of certain pollutants, national air pollution has decreased. We have made progress, but we need to continue the momentum by implementing stronger regulations on today’s industry—to decrease air pollution and with the goal of reducing global warming in mind.
Furthermore, the global community needs to band together to combat these environmental challenges. A significant portion of the smog over Los Angeles and San Francisco can be traced to Asia. The pollution our factories are emitting does not just hover over our own cities: it crosses international boundaries as well. We are not only trying to improve our own air quality, but also the air that others breathe; and we breathe in the air other countries pollute as well.
We cannot afford to ignore the pollution of other countries. We cannot simply say, “Let them deal with it; it’s their problem.” The global community needs to work together to encourage both industrialized and industrializing countries to improve their air quality. But we can’t tell others what to do if we aren’t following our own advice; the US needs to improve its air quality as well.
Here are some steps that you can take to make a difference on this important issue:
-write to members of Congress urging stronger legislation to control air pollution
-now that it’s almost spring, walk or bike instead of driving. Boarders: instead of getting your adviser to drive you somewhere, grab some friends and walk it instead! The auto industry is a significant cause of air pollution and global warming.
-although the Green Cup is over, keep conserving electricity! In 2004, about half the electricity in the US was generated by coal, a major cause of both air pollution and global warming (Union of Concerned Scientists, www.ucsusa.org).
-encourage friends, family, and advisers to drive less and decrease energy consumption: it’s a group effort!
