Pollution problems linger across Olympics city

BEIJING (AP) — The wall of gray haze around the National Stadium and across the city cut visibility down to a mile. On the eve of opening ceremonies, Beijing’s polluted air took center stage Thursday as the most visibly pressing problem for Olympic organizers who had promised to clean up the Chinese capital.

Despite China’s enormous attempts to improve the air quality in the run-up to the Summer Games, the stubbornly thick haze that covered the city illustrated how difficult and elusive a target clear skies can be. In the end, it will come down to the wild card of weather: rain and wind.

“I hoped that the measures could have more effect than they had in the last week,” said Zhu Tong, an associate professor at Peking University’s College of Environmental Science and Engineering who has been advising the government on pollution issues.

“Unfortunately, we had meteorological conditions that weren’t good for clearing up the sky. So the stagnant air in Beijing has helped pollutants accumulate. I really hope in the next couple weeks, we’ll have conditions that will help us clear up the sky.”

The forecast for today, the official opening ceremony for the games, was overcast skies with a slight chance of showers in the afternoon, China’s meteorological agency said. But relief may come by the weekend, with a prediction of moderate rain.

On Thursday, Beijing’s air pollution index was recorded at 96, which came close to exceeding the national level for acceptable air. Levels between 51-100 are considered moderate pollution, and anything over 100 is harmful to sensitive groups, including children and the elderly.

The Associated Press has been compiling its own pollution data since mid-July. The independent spot checks collected from the Olympic Green showed that, even though there are dramatic ups and downs, PM 10 concentrations were often much higher than what the World Health Organization considers healthy. Today, AP readings showed numbers far above the WHO guidelines for healthy air.