China Still Trying to Improve Air Quality for 2008 Beijing Olympics

Last year, this blog discussed China's efforts to reduce air pollution for the 2008 Olympics, it seems like there is still a long way to go over the next six months.  This week, news has trickled in about athletes avoiding training in Beijing because the air quality is still poor.

Many countries are setting up training camps for their athletes in Japan or South Korea, while the American swim team is basing itself in Singapore. There are also plans to test facemasks for training, leisure time, and possibly during competition.

From MSNBC: "Beijing has struggled to reduce the sooty mix of ozone, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide that often blankets the city at a level five times higher than the World Health Organization's safety standard."

Some of the efforts being taken to improve the air quality include:

• Banning the use of cars in and around the Olympic venues (the ban will include about 1.5 million vehicles)
• Closing factories before 10,000 athletes and 550,000 visitors arrive Aug. 8-24
• Halting construction