Beijings Olympic Smog: How Bad Will It Be?
A week before the start of the Olympics, Beijing’s smog still threatens the Games. The effects of the polluted air are worrying to many Olympic athletes, some of whom have attempted to limit time spent in Beijing. National teams from the U.S., Britain, France, and Germany, to name just a few, have been doing their pre-Olympics training in Japan (BusinessWeek.com, 2/12/08) rather than take their chances in China. Australia’s Olympic Committee is giving athletes concerned about the smog’s impact on their health the O.K. to withdraw from events. Record-holding Ethiopian distance runner Haile Gebrselassie, who has asthma, has pulled out of the marathon, citing bad air. Chinese officials knew they had to address the pollution problem (BusinessWeek.com, 7/28/08) and promised Beijing would enjoy “blue sky days” for the duration of the Olympics. To do that, they have shut hundreds of factories and coal-burning plants in Beijing and its environs. They have implemented odd-even day driving restr
