Slashdot Mirror
China Races To Clean Up Olympic Air
Hugh Pickens writes "With the Olympics due to start in less than three weeks, Beijing is cranking up antipollution measures by yanking cars off the roads, expanding mass transit and staggering work hours in a bid to meet its pledge of a 'green' Olympics. Beijing has gone on a spending spree, relocating factories, seeding clouds, retiring old vehicles, planting millions of trees and halting building construction amid concerns that athletes and visitors could suffer breathing problems. For the next two months, owners of 3.3 million private cars can drive only on alternate days in China's capital, based on whether the last digit of their license plates is even or odd. Environmental and sports performance experts have cast doubt on the effectiveness of the measures taken so far. 'Arguably these are all short-term measures, just designed to control air quality for the time when the Olympics are on,' says Dr Andy Jones. Dr Angus Hunter warned that athletes are at risk for low performance if the air quality cannot be brought down to acceptable levels. 'Average times could be lower and the chances of records being broken become less. It's a bit like trying to exercise in a room when the gym is full of smokers.'"
That would be such a neat ad campaign. You could show Mao smiling as he holds a bus pass. I think it would work well in California too.
If the whole world sees American athletes dressed up with goofy masks, they will see the USA as a bunch of sissies, especially if the Chinese -don't-.
This is my sig.
It werery impowtant yeu cween up you aiw.
But how are they going to stop the sand storms coming from Mongolia?
50 million chinese blowing the other way.
NOW I GOTTA BUILD CITY WALL TO KEEP CITY BUILDINGS CLEAN OR CITY PEOPLE GONNA COMPLAIN! GODDAMN MONGORIANS!!!
(string of text to get around caps filter, asdfbvukavfkavukabuywerbvfyabsvsdbfjkdhafbukaddfbwdfghweynetuakfukyvbuaaaf)
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
rj
well it depends on what their smoking, a bit of crack/crystal meth or pcp may actually give them a boost.
I'm all for setting up this alternative drugie Olympics, if altitude training is ok, or lifting weights then why not a crack pipe.
thank God the internet isn't a human right.
With people considering a space elevator, why not consider a space vacuum cleaner? A long tube with one end in space and the other split like, say, a flying spaghetti monster, with multiple ends to suck up particulates. And little dogs.
I am not an expert on large power plants (in fact I know next to nothing about them which is why I'm posting here on Slashdot) but I'd be pretty surprised if you could just take an coal fired powerplant and just plug a diesel tanker into it. If your idea were true, you should see huge changes around the plants - construction of the tanks for one thing as diesel just doesn't form nice large piles like coal does.
Take the tin-foil off, you'll feel better.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
The residents of Beijing just need to inhale deeply just before the games end and hold it for the rest of their lives.
Problem solved!
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
...INCINERATED the city's thousands of stray dogs.
I couldn't see how that would help the air quality. I guess the word "temporarily" should have clued me in.
Living the the US is barely tolerable and people die constantly
Gee, that is bad. Over here in the UK, people only die once.
I kinda take offence when people try to make general comments racist.
POOL'S CLOSED
Thanks to the War on Drugs, it's easier to buy meth than it is to buy cold medicine!
Well you should read the article; they tried to move the factories but they couldn't find them because of the smog!!
You inhale deeply in Beijing, and it'll turn out to be your last breath anyways ;)
What!?!?! That's ridiculous!
Everybody knows that the failure of the Kyoto protocol was all part of a vast right wing conspiracy to destroy the environment! They do it because they are teh eval!
How dare you suggest that there might have been rational reasons that were readily apparent to anyone who looked beyond the end of their own nose!
Which is exactly why Chicago is going to get the 2016 games. We've got the patent on the time honored political methods.
Marvin knew: "Think of a number, any number..."
The US: We're not over-polluting, we're under-overpopulated!
That depends if you are counting number of people or pounds of flesh...