Let The Games (Cough) Begin
Harry Smith: How Olympic Teams Will Deal With The Pollution In Beijing
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Play CBS Video Video Chinese Pollution Reaches U.S. Pollution in China has reached worrying heights. Sixteen of the world's 20 most-polluted cities are in China, and pollution from China is reaching the U.S. Barry Petersen reports.
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Video Olympic Fever Sweeps China China kicked off its one-year countdown to the 2008 Summer Olympics with a string of celebrations. But amid the excitement, Celia Hatton reports that a lot of work still needs to be done.
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Video China Unveils Olympic Torch CBS News RAW: The 2008 Beijing Olympic torch was unveiled at a glittering ceremony in China. The torch will pass through Europe, the Americas, Africa and many Asian countries.
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Buildings seen through thick pollution, Beijing, China. (AP PHOTO)
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Cars drive on a major highway during peak hour traffic on the first day of a test to reduce car numbers in Beijing, China, Friday, Aug. 17, 2007. City officials yanked hundreds of thousands of private cars off Beijing's streets Friday to test whether a partial car ban could clear health-threatening smog and ease gridlock during next year's Olympic Games. (AP)
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Fast Facts China Learn about the people, economy and history.
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Today’s Washington Post features a front page article on the pollution in Beijing. The summer Olympics will be held there next year and while the Chinese have promised a “Green Games,” about the only thing green about them will be the stuff athletes will be spewing from their lungs.
No, seriously: Many Olympic teams are planning to wait until the last possible minute to arrive. Some teams will stay in less polluted places like Macau and drop in when its time to play.
Many a sports federation is trying to figure out how their athletes can compete when the particulate pollution is so intense that the bodies national reaction to is to produce massive amounts of mucus.
Yuck. Green games, I’m sure.
Beijing is booming. The Post says a thousand new cars are added to the city’s streets every day. Put that on top of unbridled factory pollution and soon they’ll have to add a new event - surviving.
Harry's daily commentary can be heard on many CBS Radio News affiliates across the country.
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