One is this blog item two weeks ago by Tim Johnson of the McClatchy papers in Beijing, whom I don't know. He asks whether it is dangerous for children to grow up in Beijing. For understandable reasons, he doesn't directly answer the question -- understandable because, I infer from the post, he has little kids here himself. But the post is full of interesting quotes, data, and observations, none of which are found in, say, The Olympian.
The other is the aforementioned Beijing Air blog, a knowledgeable-seeming site providing technical data about pollution and weather . I don't know who produces it (apparently a Belgian named Tom), but at face value it is convincing. One of the point it consistently makes is that even days that seem nice in Beijing make not be acceptable for athletics (and general living), because of the very high level of very small particulates. These small particles are actually more dangerous than bigger, uglier, more easily visible contaminants, because the small ones can go deeper into your lungs.
Merry Christmas! And the last on this theme until the Games are closer at hand.
This article available online at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2007/12/last-comment-of-the-year-on-the-beijing-air-situation/7865/
