Beijing took steps during the Olympics and before to reduce traffic.

Readers will remember Beijing’s attempt to be like NYC and the government’s move to get half of their cars off the road.

Well … Beijing’s traffic is back. These two pics show the difference.

What GP wants to know is, why can they tell some cars to stay home some of the time to save some of the pollution and not do this ALL the time?

What’s up with that?

Some 400,000 Beijingers are discussing online whether to keep the ban or not. I don’t even live in Beijing and it makes sense to me to keep as many of the estimated 3.29 million cars off the roads as much as possible.

A national holiday is coming … and more congestion will follow, which obviously will result in …

Anyone knows the answer? We all do, it’s more pollution.

Come on Beijing!

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Beijing has been trying to reduce the smog in the city in the lead up to the Olympics. They start this Friday!! Whoopee! But, the Australian government is still not buying into the green Beijing, fresh air thing. In fact, the Australian government has voiced its concern about the effects that the air might have on its athletes. Yeah, and the Aussie government expects China do what that they haven’t done already?

The environmental minister down under said, ‘I think it’s a real issue for authorities there and also for the Australian team and for athletes generally, and I know that the Australian team medical staff will be monitoring the conditions really closely.’’

And I say, “Okay, so what do you recommend China do in the three days leading up to the Games?”

Or, is the minister just blowing smoke? Doesn’t he realize we need less of that? Let’s enjoy the Games and applaud China for putting on their best face. Is it the best? Could they do better? The point is, China is throwing a party and doing their darndest to do the best they can at it. How about some acknowledgment instead of criticism for a change?

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Bill Gates is a philanthropist. His wife and her staff have a full time job trying to spend all the money they made. And, they are not able to keep up. Well, Gates has another idea that he and Michael Bloomberg will spend $375 million on. Cleaner air. Cleaner lungs, too!

The two have pledged their pocket change to a global effort to stop smoking … the kind that humans do and don’t have to.Why doesn’t Gates and Bloomberg just buy all the tobacco companies and shut them down?

I know that’s not reasonable, but even $375 million is a LOT of money, I wonder how much difference it will make in the long run. It’s kind of like a church that needs a new building that costs $1 million. So, they raise $500k and try to make do.

As long as ther are people who think it is adult-like to huff and puff and blow out their brain cells, smoking will not stop, nor will it stop kids from wanting to be like dad and mom, or their big brothers or gang leaders. Losing battle? I don’t want to think so, but… How would you try to prevent people from pounding cancer sticks into their coffins?

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Noise pollution can be expensive, especially if you are the owner of a U. S. Military Base in Japan. A court ordered the Tokyo government to increase compensation for hundreds of residents who must endure the noise from U. S. jets in the area. Guess who Tokyo is going to ask to pay. Tokyo’s high court says 257 residents deserve more than the Y190 million ($1.8 million) they have already been awarded. When the residents were informed, they said, “Huh?!”  The residents were already promised Y160 million.

The court rejected suspension of early morning and late night flights. The court says they have no jurisdiction over the military base and the suit wasn’t filed against the U.S. government…hint, hint.

Japan hosts some 50,000 troops who are accused of making too much noise, committing too much crime and causing environmental pollution. Not to mention the fact that the U.S. presence in the area is important for the balance of power.

Not wanting to be defeated by the ruling to not suspend flights, plaintiffs have pledged to continue to make noise until somebody listens to them.

“We will not be defeated by the ruling, but will continue to raise our voice until it is heard.”

“Huh!?”

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People in Paris can now stay informed on the air quality they are breathing.

A company called Aérophile has built a giant tethered helium balloon, the AERO30NG Aérophile 5500 model, that will display real-time reports of ambient air quality and air pollution produced by auto emissions using an innovative lighting system, which can be seen from more than 20 km (12.4 miles) away.

Located in the Parc Andre Citroën and filled with 6,000 cubic meters of helium, the balloon will definitely become a tourist attraction considering that it will provide non-polluting rides for up to 30 passengers at a time.

The Aérophile balloon gathers data from several sensors installed by Airparif – an organization that measures air quality in France and will signal the ambient air quality in colors. It using three projectors located inside of the balloon and a high-powered rotating laser at the base sweeps across the lower half of the balloon.

Red signifies highly polluted air, orange for polluted, yellow for moderate, light green for clean, and green for very clean. Do you think we’ll ever get to see it green? At least for now, I doubt it!

“Flight aboard a tethered gas balloon AERO30NG is a unique experience full of sensations for the passengers.

Silent and without vibration, the gondola is open to the air, allowing passengers to experience the sensation of being on a flying balcony 150 m in the sky.

A 360° panorama unfolds before them, and in a single gaze they can take in the whole landscape.”

Aérophile is a company specialized in manufacturing tethered gas balloons for tourist and cultural attractions so you may want to believe them in doing a great job with the Air de Paris balloon.

Another great place where I think tourists would enjoy seeing such a balloon would be in Beijing for the Olympics. It could be mainly red, though.

Tokyo Tells Large Buildings to Cut CO2 Emissions. Now, Beijing is banning high-emission vehicles. For whatever reason these kinds of things remind me of a ceasefire in a war. If they can stop now, or for a while, why can’t they stop for good? Yellow vehicles are those with, surprise, a yellow sticker on them for not being able to meet Euro I emission standards.

“All yellow-labeled vehicles, most of which are freight trucks, will be banned from roads in Beijing from July 1 to Sept 20,” says Beijing’s environmental protection bureau.

Yesterday Beijing announced that government vehicle usage must be halved…all of this in the run up to the Olympics. So, are the Olympics more important than the planet’s long term livelihood? Seriously, if these kinds of measures can be taken temporarily, why not permanently? Beijing was able to meet its goal of 246 blue-sky days last year. I think we had about 365 such days here in the Valley. (Eating your heart out Beijing?) Seriously, Beijing is to be credited for taking action.

Most yellow-tagged vehicles run through Beijing at night. Think freight trucks. Not surprisingly, Beijing measures 20% more pollutants in the air at night than in the daytime. From 9pm to 4am to be precise. In order to catch the perpetrators, Beijing will patrol 22 laser remote sensing cars to check emissions. How cool is that? It takes about 0.7 seconds to determine emission levels of vehicles. Go Beijing!

Now, where can I get me one of those laser thingees?

I get the message when I visit third-world countries. But the U.K.? The message is “Don’t drink the water.” Apparently some 170,000 Brits who get their water provided by Anglian Water were warned to boil the water before drinking it. Traces of a stomach bug have been found. The bug has a name – cryptosporidium. With a name like that you would think Superman wouldn’t drink it either. The tap water is still safe for washing, bathing and toilet flushing. Yeah, a clean bug is a healthy bug, right?

So, how did a first-world country like Britain come down with a problem like this? And if it’s in the water, what kinds of pollution might be found in other places in the country? Is anybody worried?

Everything you wanted to know about cryptosporidium.

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We say, or at least some people say, that two heads are better than one. The Japanese say “sannin yoreba monchuu no chie” which roughly translates to three heads being better than one.

But, not always.

In China’s Hunan province a gecko has been found with a head on each of its body. The little fellow was found wandering to and fro, back and forth, going here and there, trying to make up his minds in an antique shop. He’s slow, but can go both directions.

“Where you want to go?”

“I don’t know. Where you want to go?”

Meanwhile -

In Japan, not wanting to be outdone by China, a two headed turtle was found in Moriyama. The little boy who found him named the amphibian ‘Takara’ meaning treasure. The cause? Researchers say it was NOT pollution but rather some sort of natural phenomenon. Takara is alive!

Yeah, right!

More critters with two heads -

A two faced cat.

A two headed goat.

A two headed snake.

Another two headed turtle.

A two headed lamb born in China

A two headed arowana fish in an aquarium shop in Shah Alam. They are not dead but can’t swim either.

My advice … don’t drink the water.

Sources 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

I can think of a couple of hundred reasons to drive a car instead of walk, bike, or inline skate.

Pollution, smution…

In Madrid, Spain, protesters stripped down and rode naked on bicycles to protest against the expansion of automobile use instead of riding a bike.

I’m only seeing the backside in these pix, but from what I do see, I am not that interested in what’s up front.

But, then again, I’d like to get a talking to from some of these protesters.

In the meantime, I am somewhat inclined to keep driving depending on who might ride naked to try and stop me.

City of Boulder, Wyoming, and its 75 souls that live there have something in common with much larger cities across North America: high levels of air pollution. The root cause for the bad air is the region’s booming natural gas industry because the Sublette County is home to one of the largest natural gas reserves in the United States.

Craig Jensen, resident of the unincorporated community of Boulder, is concerned of the changes. He said that the sky is no longer colored or the horizon crystal clear as they used to be. “Makes you wonder what it’s going to do to the grass, the trees and the birds”, he said. He’s right and Wyoming issued the first ozone alerts after ground-level ozone numbers exceeded healthy levels, 11 times since January.

Boulder, Wyoming is not meeting federal air-quality standards right now and if things won’t change there will be drastic measures that will affect everyone in the region including the energy sector.

Gas developers in the area said they are working to reduce ozone and emissions. They insisted their companies should continue drilling.

The Department of Environmental Quality is aware of the air problem in the area and David Finley said “We understand that the people who are living up there cannot wait two or three years for us to develop regulatory tools.” They are working together with the gas companies, on a plan to reduce air pollution in the area.

Craig Jensen, have seen the both sides of a booming gas industry in the area. He’s been paid royalties for wells on his land, which allowed him to buy all sorts of “toys”, but he’s now wishing the good old days to come back, with clear skies, less traffic and fewer people.

Source [AP]