2008
7
Aug
People at home don’t understand when I say that the Beijing sky is like a wintery-fog. I think this quote sums it up nicely:
“It’s tough. I’ve never seen anything like this. You’re watching batting practice in the outfield and you can’t see the ball because it’s the same colour as the sky.” Chris Reitsma, [...]
2008
7
Aug
This weeks hasn’t been a good week for the air in Beijing. It has been hazy all week and Thursday’s prediction of rain just never came. With some luck it could rain tonight, but it didn’t feel that way when I was out earlier.
Some United States and Australian swimmers have reported seeing haze [...]
2008
5
Aug
The head of the United Nations Environment Programme, Achim Steiner, will attend the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics on August 8 as part of the agency’s continuing support for the greening of the games, the UN announced today.
UNEP has been working with the Beijing Olympic Committee for the last three years with the [...]
2008
4
Aug
The haze was back on Monday after several more or less clear days, bringing with it new concern about pollution affecting the Beijing Olympics.
“We are looking into what is happening. Yesterday was a wonderful day. Today, is it hazy? Is it pollution? I don’t know,” said International Olympic Committee marketing chief Gerhard Heiberg.
Local organizing [...]
2008
4
Aug
Despite a recent bout of clear skies and breathable air, with the Olympic games due to start this Friday, Beijing has woken up today to a return of the dreaded haze. This despite that fact that organisers have closed factories and removed over 1.5 mill…
2008
4
Aug
When I talk to friends and family back home, usually the first question they ask is how is the weather or pollution now in Beijing. Last it was spectacular and the best I had seen it in three months. It was as many athletes, officials and journalists were arriving so news got back [...]
2008
3
Aug
The haze has come back over Beijing this morning with just four days to go before the Olympics begin.
Here is the forecast for the week:
I am kind of expecting the pollution to build again this week after a week of almost clear skies last week. The forecast is for showers on Thursday [...]
2008
2
Aug
Japan’s Olympic delegation will carry 500 dust masks for industrial use to guard against the notorious air pollution in Beijing, a corporate official said Monday.
Koken, a major Japanese maker of respirators, gas masks and air purifiers, has provided the masks for free to the Japanese Olympic Committee for possible use in training at the [...]
2008
31
Jul
The sky in Beijing was very clear this morning and I could even see out to the mountains, west of the city, which is fairly rare. Yesterday’s rain would have helped and perhaps the traffic control measures are starting to have some affect.
A lot also depends on the weather. Here is the forecast [...]
2008
31
Jul
Eight days before the 2008 Summer Games kick off in Beijing, the city’s air quality is still so unpredictable that officials were forced Thursday to announce emergency contingency plans.
In recent days, the Chinese capital has been blanketed in a haze, and vehicle emissions have been higher than those expected by experts. Olympic organizers fear [...]