Question Earthority!

“One of the demonstration sports of this year’s Olympics has been grousing about Beijing’s pollution, speculating on what air quality will be like tomorrow, asking athletes about their breathing, and otherwise pondering particulates in the air. There’s certainly no doubt that Beijing’s air is gross. Yesterday was a pretty good day, but according to the World Bank, the city’s air quality is much worse than Athens or Barcelona on average, with about twice as much particulate matter in the air as both those former hosts of the Games. Pulmonologist Dr. Janis Schaeffer says Beijing’s air quality is 30 percent worse than famously smoggy Los Angeles. Even as they make grave faces about the problems air pollution has caused, commentators marvel at the efficiency and thoroughness of the preparation for this year’s Games, unlike the nail-biting delays and general bumbling in Athens four years ago.” (08/22/08)