China can't fully fix air quality problem for Olympics

88 Comments

diceau, on 07/15/2008, -3/+36No *****.
rz8472, on 07/15/2008, -3/+36Of course; even seeding the clouds before the event and forcing half of the drivers to stay home each day won't mitigate 40 years of rapid industrialization with disregard of environmental concerns.
xShifty, on 07/15/2008, -1/+19And see the distance runners pass out from lack of oxygen
madfrogurt, on 07/15/2008, -4/+21Who would have thought that unchecked industrialism checked by unenforced environmental laws couldn't be reversed in a short period of time.

What China needs is more free market capitalism to solve this obviously.
sockpuppets, on 07/15/2008, -1/+17Work on those analogy skills.
Walcherina, on 07/15/2008, -3/+19"I think I'm coming down with the black lung, pop."
Rewdog, on 07/15/2008, -0/+16After a couple weeks in Beijing, my snot started to turn black. Its going to be interesting if overhead views of the Olympic stadium will be able to get a clear picture through the smog; its really outrageous.

I think they should give all 1.6 billion people air filters that they have to go outside and wave around in the air for an hour each day.
mikemarino, on 07/15/2008, -0/+15there's nothing to be afraid of...except that fog that turns people inside out.
badnewshotel, on 07/15/2008, -10/+21I'm actually going to watch the Olympics this year... so I can witness the comedy and mayhem that comes from letting 3rd world thugs have the games.
apetrie, on 07/15/2008, -1/+10Should have been in Toronto.
chrissku, on 07/15/2008, -2/+11Pssst China.....the world knows about your pollution problems, puppy's on the menu, algae in the bay, and the history of Tiananmen Square. You're not actually hiding anything....FYI. In case you were wondering if we knew.
earnjam, on 07/15/2008, -0/+8"eeh, eeh."
ha3er0, on 06/16/2009, -1/+9You need to be an atmospheric chemist and five years to figure that out?
silentbutstudly, on 07/15/2008, -1/+8Maybe if they built a giant version of one of Sharper Image's "Ionic Breeze" to clean the air...oh wait....
shawgo, on 07/15/2008, -1/+8I have a theory, that I just came up with just now.

All the humans are sucking up the oxygen! Just get rid of the humans and the city is saved!
Chicken, on 07/15/2008, -1/+8but its not for the tourists, its for the Olympians!
Mohdoo, on 07/15/2008, -1/+7Oh hey. I wonder if doing the slightest bit of research into whether it would be a good idea for the Olympics to be there or not would have helped this.
MetalCharms, on 07/15/2008, -0/+6You ever hear of like, a line break?
kevinwiz, on 07/15/2008, -0/+6So now when money and image is on the line, all of a sudden they care about the environment.
sockpuppets, on 07/15/2008, -1/+6I really hope M Night Shyamalan doesn't read your comment and find inspiration in it.
akohut, on 07/15/2008, -2/+7Surprise!
Hangly, on 07/15/2008, -1/+6Newly industrializing countries never care about environmental concerns. England didn't, the US didn't. Concern for the environment is a luxury for those who are not still desperately backward and poor.
I'm sorry if that offends modern sensibilities, but housing, water, electricity, food and education take priority over air quality and parks.

For what it's worth, the Chinese government is responsible for the most ambitious environmental project of all time: the Green Wall being built to contain the Gobi desert.

Also they are planting a ***** of trees. Not just in Beijing, but in all the big cities. In a decade or less the greenery to structural concrete ratio in Beijing and other major cities will be at the same level as Portland, OR.
joegibes, on 07/15/2008, -2/+7There's a few guys from Chongqing at my uni... Rumor is they came to Michigan to see the sun.
zackk, on 07/15/2008, -0/+5It's expected. This can't be fixed in few days which has been happening over years.
inactive, on 07/15/2008, -0/+4I guess their weather controlling machines didn't work.
supersoyboy, on 07/15/2008, -0/+4MERMAN!!!!!!
Gav0510, on 07/15/2008, -2/+5Well if 18 million Beijingers can deal with it, I'd be saying the tourists going there for a few days will cope.
clokwise, on 07/15/2008, -0/+3The sad thing is that the day after the Olympics closing ceremony (or at least shortly thereafter), you can bet that traffic will return to the usual polluted chaos, and factories will be given the green light to spew away again. The Chinese mindset is "make quick profits for me now", and don't give a rats ass about anyone else, or for the future. Once in a while you do see some genuine interest in making changes to that mindset, but so far it's always been gazumped by the desire for quick cash.

I remember when I was a kid a single pair of scissors made in the USA lasted decades - without even resharpening. Now buy a pair of Chinese scissors, use it daily, and you'll be lucky if it lasts you a month. So who REALLY benefits from cheap Chinese goods? Not you, cause you'll pay a lot more for scissors over time. It's the Chinese who benefit because they sold you a ***** product 50 times. Feel like a chump? You should. But don't blame the Chinese - you bought their crap.

BTW, my observation comes from living in China, and working and speaking with Chinese daily, for over 12 years. So don't digg me down for being ignorant.
Hangly, on 07/15/2008, -1/+4How is that not free-market capitalism?

China is about the freest market on Earth. (And I'm IN China, so don't accuse me of not having been there. Er, here.)
groo68, on 07/15/2008, -0/+3But this time the air has taken a lesson from the plants, and its the thing sending out the gas, no one is safe, unless they are in a vacuum.
Jaryd2006, on 07/15/2008, -0/+3That might actually work......I mean......Thatd be alot of air moved through filters......The sheer number might actually work.
lougoose, on 07/15/2008, -0/+3Yeah, China denying these things is kinda like denying gravity exists (there are some people who do, but these people are housed in special homes).
inactive, on 07/15/2008, -2/+5Buried for being a no sh** article.
BossKey, on 07/15/2008, -0/+3Except that they can't deal with it. Their health problems are well documented.
Chicken, on 07/15/2008, -2/+4You're getting dugg down for the "should of".
WikiEasy, on 07/15/2008, -0/+2It's free, but not fair.
Hangly, on 07/15/2008, -0/+2The CCP can control the amount of man-made air pollution. During the Olympics all polluting industries will be shut down, and no one will be allowed to drive. We had a couple drills this past year, and the air was actually quite nice.

What they can't control is the biggest source of air pollution in Beijing, and that's the dust that blows in off of the Gobi Desert every spring and fall. My first year in Beijing the dust wiped out every optical drive in my house: laptop, Playstation, and three successive DVD players. It's everywhere, impossible to control, and gets into everything.
weister42, on 07/15/2008, -6/+8They should of let Taiwan host the Olympics, much better there.

I know I know it's never going to happen...
solarisdreams, on 07/15/2008, -0/+2Yeh...we americans went through the industrial revolution with the interests of Green Peace in mind. We did it clean, and we were fair to our laborers.

Suck it you hypocrite morons.
lougoose, on 07/15/2008, -0/+2Apparently you need one, since you seem to deny these issues.
LUElinks, on 07/15/2008, -2/+4"I sympathize with them. They're doing all the right things, but unfortunately the right things may not be good enough," Rahn said. "There will surely be some good days and some bad days."

So China ***** up, but they're trying to change. Don't be so hard on them. This doesn't need to be another anti-china thread when they're doing all they can to solve this problem.
BossKey, on 07/15/2008, -0/+1Without learning from our mistakes.
Jaryd2006, on 07/15/2008, -0/+12 different words:
Black Lung
8randon, on 07/15/2008, -0/+1china is only forcing half the drivers to stay home during the olympics so there would be less traffic...
robbob, on 07/15/2008, -0/+1China welcomes you to their Industrial Revolution
Hangly, on 07/15/2008, -0/+1Yes, I lived about 15 minutes north of Taizhong for quite a while.
Do they still dump their solid waste on the beaches? They did in the mid-90's.
groo68, on 07/15/2008, -0/+1I wasn't talking about air pollution, i meant other pollution like oil and garbage and chemicals.
YodaJones, on 07/15/2008, -0/+1Just like their own government I don't give a ***** about China's air. They better just keep that iPhone production pumping out product.
mfc5200, on 07/15/2008, -0/+1free-market capitalism is this.

you can pollute your own property by say throwing car parts on your front lawn, but you can't pollute other people's property. Seeing as the river, lakes, and air don't belong to you, you can't pollute them. Yet companies there pay off officials so that they turn a blind eye, hence it is not free market capitalism.

Government should be there to enforce property rights. In China they don't really do that very well.
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