“Evaporation”

I find it amusing when people describe the smog in Beijing as “evaporation“, and not pollution.

Of course, in this case the guy doing the describing is the chairman of the IOC medical commission, and he probably knows more about the issue than I do, but I still find it amusing.

The most important quote from the article, though, is from a cyclist:

“They have pollution in Los Angeles, and if the Olympics were in Los Angeles, we would probably wear these masks, too.”

Beijing does have (severe) air quality problems, and some other Chinese cities are even worse, but my non-scientific opinion is things have actually gotten better in Beijing over the past ten years. I no longer have black snot. It’s natural for athletes to worry about the air quality affecting their health and performance, and it’s important to be concerned about the global environment, but it’s also important to remember that Beijing has made efforts to improve its environment, and that the US and other Western countries produce much, much more pollution per capita than China does.

I don’t understand most of it, but this blog provides more detailed info on Beijing’s air quality.

Maybe the sun’ll come out tomorrow.