Beijing and the environment post-Olympics
The New York Times has an interesting article examining the environment in Beijing and what will happen once the Olympics are over. Beijing is growing so fast it is struggling to balance economic growth with the environment. It is attempting to temporarily shutdown factories to help clear the air.
According to an engineer in the article, “It is like you invite some guests to your home, and hide all your children underneath the bed to make the house look nicer. If all the polluting factories are shut down for the Olympics, there will be a major pollution outbreak afterward when all the factories restart, right?”
As Beijing attempts to replace coal burners with natural gas and cleaner fuels, the city adds 1200 new cars and trucks to the streets everyday. They are building new subway lines, but unless your departure point and destination are close to a subway station it is not the most convenient way to get around Beijing.
An environmental physiologist, Mr. Kolb visited several stadiums in Beijing, measuring the air quality, “We‚Äôre worried,” Mr. Kolb said. Of Beijing air pollution, he added: “There‚Äôs no doubt about it. It‚Äôs off the charts.”
[...] (via Beijing Olympic blog) [...]
It doesn’t take much to deal with the environmental quality issues at Beijing. All you need is a “thought revolution”. Think positive.
Instead of thinking these particles and gaseous additives to your breathing medium, you should think of these as value added energy enhanced air. The sulphur and carbon particles can all be burnt to produce energy, with the appropriate apparatus, like a furnace. That it is not suitable for human consumption is pure BS. Don’t you see billions of people are still breathing these things, and producing more humans while they are doing it ?
“On Aug. 5, his measurement of fine particles pollution, or PM 10, reached 200, roughly four times above the level deemed safe by the World Health Organization.”
If it is four times above the standard, that means it is 400% better than the normal stuff we are consuming. We should be glad to be able to receive such generous gifts from our host country and her loving citizens.
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