Olympic Games

Beijing-Pollution

Beijing scrambles to clear the air

Last Updated: Tuesday, July 8, 2008 | 5:29 PM ET

Ashley Terry CBC Sports

Beijing has ordered cars with even and odd license plates to run on alternate days starting July 20 in an attempt to clear the smog in the city. (Mark Ralston/Getty Images)

Two surface-to-air missiles sit pointed towards the sky near the Bird's Nest in Beijing, ready to shoot down airborne attacks. The sky above them is grey and heavy with smog.

But with 30 days to go until the Games begin, it seems that the biggest airborne threat at the Olympics this year could be pollution.

When China put together its Olympic bid, it vowed to meet World Health Organization standards on air quality. Beijing spent about $20 billion to combat chronic pollution before the Games.

The city has tightened emission standards, closed factories and built new public transportation systems. More than 250 high-emitting companies north of the city were ordered to shut down by Tuesday. It has even ordered cars with even and odd license plates to run on alternate days starting July 20 in an attempt to clear the smog.

Air quality is ‘fair’

With a month to go, Beijing is scrambling to clean its air. The past few weeks in Beijing have been unusually hot, humid and smoggy. Beijing's Environmental Protection Bureau rates the air quality as "fair."

Senior IOC official Hein Verbruggen, speaking at the Olympic Press Centre in Beijing Tuesday, said, "Preparation time is over," and China is ready for the Olympics, but that "a very small number of open issues remain."

Issues such as security and press freedom have been getting a great deal of attention in the run-up to the Games, but air pollution still seems to be a major problem. In the 20 days to Monday, air quality was just within the limit of what China considers to be safe. These standards are double the levels that Western cities consider acceptable.

Visibility in the capital was down to a few hundred yards on Tuesday, as the city sat shrouded in grey smog.

Athletes themselves have expressed concern over air quality. Ethiopian marathon world-record holder Haile Gebrselassie made the decision not to compete in the event in Beijing because of the pollution in the city. Gebrselassie, an asthma sufferer, considered the 10,000 metres a better option.

Athletes complaining

A marathon test event in Beijing in April had some athletes complaining about the conditions, but they will not compare to those in August when temperatures regularly are above 30 degrees.

IOC President Jacques Rogge has stated that endurance events that last more than an hour will have to be postponed if air quality is not acceptable.

Pollution is also contributing to the mass of green algae coating Qingdao, the Olympic sailing venue. Emissions from sewage, industry and farm chemicals have caused similar algae outbreaks in China in recent years.

The outbreak prompted China to hire 10,000 people to clean up the mess. They troll the venue area in wooden boats, pulling out the thick green clumps by hand.

Canadian sailors Kevin Stittle and Oskar Johansson have been in Qingdao since June, trying to adjust to navigating through the green sludge.

The city has made great efforts in the past few years to fix the problem. By 2006, it had converted most of its coal-fired boilers to natural gas. The next year it completed a new subway line and cut fares to lure more riders off the roads. This year, it removed 300,000 high-emission vehicles from operation.

With 30 days to go, these measures might fail to lift Beijing from under its cloud of smog.