All eyes on China: Workers eat in front of the Bird's Nest stadium on 31 July. China unveiled a string of potential last-ditch measures to battle the city's defiant smog ahead of the games, as Beijing was again shrouded in a cloak of haze.
Credit: AFP
Olympic preparations
The Beijing Municipal Government pledged a green Olympics to the International Olympic Council. Under that commitment, concentrations of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and ground-level ozone should meet WHO recommended levels for air quality, and dust concentrations should be comparable to levels in major cities in developed countries.
Beijing's environment authorities, including the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau, have taken steps to rapidly cut pollution levels.
They ordered 19 heavily polluting industries to cut emissions by 30 per cent, and closed large factories in major pollution source areas, such as the Yanshan petrochemical zone and around the Beijing Capital International Airport.
They stopped quarrying operations and suspended construction projects on windy days. Coal-burning industries have been relocated permanently outside of built-up areas.
Beijing's traffic also faces strict controls. An 'even-and-odd' licence plate rule, implemented three weeks before the games open, lets drivers use their cars only on alternate days.
A trial of the system last summer pulled 1.3 out of the city's three million cars off the roads each day, reducing pollutants by 17 to 28 per cent.
Poised for action
Beijing environment officials have vowed to publish air quality forecasts up to a week in advance during the games.
"If air pollution is to reach an alarming level, often triggered by extreme weather conditions, such as high temperatures, high humidity and no wind, emergency plans will start, including pulling more cars off road or shutting down more factories," says Liu Jianguo a scientist on the air quality project, and deputy director of CAS's Key Laboratory of Environmental Optics and Technology.
Beijing has 40 ground-level air quality monitoring stations able to measure up to an altitude of ten metres, and the 25 comprehensive monitoring stations in the Olympic Air Quality Project can measure pollution up to five kilometres.
The higher elevation monitoring lets scientists trace pollutants from neighbouring cities, as well as local sources.
Wang Yuesi explains that the weather and geographical conditions both in Beijing and nearby areas control how regional air pollutants accumulate and disperse, particularly in the summer.
Winds from the south and southeast sweep through Beijing in summer. They blow pollutants to the north and northwest, where the mountains slow down their spread, letting them descend upon the city.
By measuring the amount of pollutants floating into Beijing at its outskirts, CAS scientists estimated in June that 30 per cent of the capital's pollutants come from nearby cities.
Now, Bejing's neighbouring areas — such as the provinces of Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong and Inner Mongolia — are helping out by closing factories and removing highly polluting cars.
Beijing is also seeking advice from further afield. A 12-member panel on air quality assessment, including three foreign experts, will help monitor air quality during the Games.
Du Shaozhong, deputy director of the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau, says involving foreign experts ensures authority and transparency in air quality monitoring and forecasting.
Ivo Allegrini, a member of the panel and head of the air pollution department at the Italian National Research Center, said he will be leading an Italian team working in Beijing throughout August, beyond the two weeks of the games. His team will receive data from the Environmental Protection Bureau and will also conduct independent monitoring.
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