Catchier story - Phelps or Pollution?

Each morning, after I get to the office and begin preparing for the day, I log onto Google to check the latest  Olympic's stats. (I watch them when possible, but events after about 11 p.m. are definitely cutting into my bedtime.)

Usually, the first thing to pop up is yet another Phelps gold medal. Good for him - the man's a genetically superior machine.  (I personally would rather root for the underdog - Ryan Lochte. He's good-looking and doesn't seem to be quite so cocky. I was definitely cheering when he won the backstroke event over Piersol. But, I digress...) *Random factoid - Phelps is neighbors with Gawky. Rumor has it he's moving to Baltimore soon though, so don't go stalking him in the Ann Arbor area.*

What isn't popping up, at least not as much as I think it should, is the fact that China's smog levels are flat out ridiculous and unsafe. It gets mentioned, but that's about it. "Today's PM10 levels were close to 400. That's 8x higher than the U.S.' safety standards. Children have been forbidden to play outside until levels improve. In other more important news, Michael Phelps proved that once again he is an unbeatable super-human. Let's go live to the Water Cube."

Make no mistake, China has improved its air quality substantially since learning it would host these games - but that doesn't mean that things are all fine and dandy yet. Just look at what China considers to be a "Blue Sky Day":

Yep, looks blue alright to me...

Is it any wonder that several of the cyclists on the U.S. team arrived wearing masks? It makes sense to me. The were reprimanded however - apparently protecting one's self from smog was considered to be rude.

China's got a long way to go in curbing their pollution levels, but they're certainly not the only place. (Oh yes, I'm including my good old U.S. of A. too.) My hope is that with the increased media attention the awareness of this huge smog problem will be raised.

I'm certainly not an expert on air pollution levels and such, so I'd love to hear from you guys. What are your thoughts on the olympics and China's smog problem?

-Gingerly-