Hoss;999144 wrote: It seemed very obvious to me especially the way the air quality looked during the Olympics. I thought the press reports of air quality during the Olympics all said that it was good. Did you see any which said otherwise? I'd quite like to read what you saw.Air quality had been highlighted as the one issue the International Olympics Committee were most concerned about in advance of this year's Games. But in the event, although smog blighted the opening day, the air cleared quickly as the effects of a massive shut-down of industry and "alternate day" restrictions on private car usage began to be seen. About 150 factories in the city had production shut down, while others closed as a result of tighter security during the Games. The ban on cars on alternate days, depending on whether they had odd or even licence plates, reduced the number of cars on the roads by about a million a day.
On several days, the sky really was blue, and on Monday the mountains that surround the city to the north and west were visible from the city centre, an unusual event for the usually humid, overcast summer months. Figures from the city's bureau for environmental protection showed there were 14 days in which air pollution met its "level one" criteria - matching the level the World Heath Organisation declares safe when achieved over the long term. The rest of the month was level two, which meets China's own standard for a so-called "blue sky day", except for one day which failed.
Average pollution was down 45 per cent, bringing it down to levels not seen since ten years ago, the ministry said in a statement on its website. "Temporary measures to reduce pollution that were put in place in Beijing and surrounding provinces to guarantee clean air for the Olympics played a fundamental role in improving the air during the Olympic period," the bureau said. The success of these measures has caused one major problem for the government though: what to do when the restrictions are due to be lifted after the Paralympics end on September 20.
Several newspapers and internet bulletin boards have reported demands by residents that some at least remain in place - a reflection in itself of the how the Games may have raised expectations of greater participation in decision-making by citizens. Xinhua, the state news agency, reported that an opinion survey of 10,000 people found 56 per cent in favour of retaining some restrictions.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... place.html