Olympic Officials: Beijing smog is 'mist' akin to Atlanta or LA

International Olympic Committee officials are trying to prepare athletes for the brutal Beijing smog with their own brand of psyops.

...Schamasch said the IOC was monitoring Beijing's air. He said particulate matter on Sunday "was a little bit higher than what's expected but nothing dramatic."

He said readings for ozone, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide fell within 2005 guidelines set by the World Health Organization... He did not disclose the exact levels, saying it was not the IOC's practice.

"Today there is nothing critical preventing an athlete from running, except the visibility," he said. "I can tell you it's mist more than smog."

Schamasch said conditions were "not worse" than in other cities that hosted the games, mentioning Los Angeles, Atlanta and Athens.

Just 12 days before the games open, the AP reported that China's capital city was "shrouded in thick gray smog".

Despite traffic restrictions put in place to reduce pollution, the city's air combined with warm temperatures and high humidity could create "a soupy mix of harmful chemicals, particulate matter and water vapor."

The following are some recent pictures taken in and around Beijing. Judge for yourself whether they look like Atlanta or Los Angeles.




















Before we start eviscerating the U.S. economy with carbon trading, perhaps we could get China on board some sort of cleanup program since it has 16 of the top 20 polluted cities in the world.

Hat tips: Marramark, Pompous Vegan, LA Times, TreeHugger and EarthFirst.