Beijing Leads in Race for Most Polluted Olympics

With a single day to go before the Olympics, both government and independent readings suggest that Beijing’s air is getting worse.

And if the winds don’t change, this could wind up being one of the most polluted Olympics in modern history, with more particulate matter in the air than Atlanta in 1996 or possibly even notoriously smoggy Los Angeles in 1984.

Despite the government’s anti-smog efforts, the entire Beijing region’s pollution has been locked in by a stubborn summer weather pattern that brings air pollution up from the south, said Kenneth Rahn, a Rhode Island professor who has been studying Chinese air quality for almost a decade.

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/08/how-beijing-com.html