When Blue Turns to Gray
Posted by SCapozzola on July 14th, 2008Atlantic columnist James Fallows has been keeping the world posted on the view from his balcony in Beijing. And with the Olympics only 24 days away, Fallows’ most recent snapshot of the Beijing skyline suggests that the city’s murky skies might clear somewhat in time for the big games.
ManufactureThis was quite alarmed at one of Fallows recent postings—of thick gray smog hanging over Beijing just two weeks ago. At that point, it seemed the Olympics would be contested in an industrially produced version of the infamous 1988 NFL “Fog Bowl,” so named because the home team Chicago Bears defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in a fog so thick that fans in the stands were unable to view the on-field action.
It’s one thing for winter fog to roll in from Lake Michigan, but it’s another thing for acrid industrial emissions to foul and pollute one of the most populous cities on earth. With China now leading the world in the production of both CO2 and sulfur dioxide, it’s little wonder that Beijing is suffering a smog epidemic.
Unfortunately, this wanton polluting is hurting more than just China’s citizenry. More than eight years ago, in an article captioned “When China smokes, you might get a cough,” CBS News reported that China’s unrestrained emissions of sulfur dioxide, as well as “arsenic, lead and zinc,” were already fouling the western skies of the United States.
Those emissions have only increased in the ensuing years, which means that in addition to poisoning its own people, China is now belching toxic gases and particulate matter for all the world to share. And so, rather than simply promote athletic camaraderie during the August games, Beijing is inadvertently helping to foster an accelerated sense of global environmental concern.
ManufactureThis will have more to say on the issue in the next few weeks, when AAM releases an in-depth report on unrestrained pollution from China’s diffuse steel industry.
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