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Yes, we have no blue skies

Wednesday, 30th July 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

The skies over Beijing looked pretty good for a few days after new traffic rules aimed at curbing pollution went into effect almost two weeks ago. But the blue skies were soon replaced with a soupy brown that's more familiar to Beijingers.

This report from the Wall Street Journal's Shai Oster takes a look at what's been done, and the possibility of more drastic measures in the days to come. The story also includes a chart that tracks Beijing's pollution over the past three and a half years. For an up-to-date measure of the capital's pollution, check out the Beijing Air Quality widget on the Journal's China blog.

Time to clear things up has all but run out—the Olympic Village welcomed its first guests Sunday under hazy skies and CCTV showed footage today of athletes from various sports arriving at the airport.

Teams are taking measures to mitigate the effects of bad air. Australian track and field athletes will skip the Opening Ceremony to avoid a night breathing more Beijing air. And many foreign teams are training outside of Beijing until a day or two before competition begins.

Tags: Beijing Olympics, pollution