Yuyu Chen, Ginger Zhe Jin, Naresh Kumar, Guang Shi, The Promise of Beijing: Evaluating the impact of the 2008 Olympic Games on Air Quality, 2013.
2.What two (or more) quotes capture the message of the article?
“ These actions, including plant closure/relocation, furnace replacement, introduction of new emission standards, and stringent traffic control, cost over US$10 billion2 In addition, given the $42.9 billion spent on city infrastructure and Olympic stadiums, Beijing Olympics were arguably the largest natural experiment in air cleaning and the most expensive Games in the Olympic history. Because most adopted measures were temporary, lessons learned from this special event will help us understand the effectiveness of intensive but temporary policies in the fight against air pollution. ”
“China adopted a number of air cleaning policies for the Olympic Games. After the International Olympic Committee awarded Beijing the 2008 Games on July 13, 2001, China established the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) on December 13, 2001. The main responsibility of the BOCOG was preparing for the 2008 Games; this included infrastructure development, environment improvement, public relations, and logistics. The three main concepts promoted by the BOCOG were “Green Olympics, High-tech Olympics and People's Olympics,” highlighting the importance of environmental protection and public interests. ”
3.What is the main point of the article, and how is it supported?
1)
To prepare for the 2008 Olympic Games, China adopted a number of radical measures to improve air quality. The article uses officially reported air pollution index (API) from 2000 to 2009 to show that these measures improved the API of Beijing during and a little after the Games, but a significant proportion of the effect faded away by October 2009. For comparison, we also analyze an objective and indirect measure of air quality at a high spatial resolution – aerosol optimal depth (AOD), derived using the data from NASA satellites. The AOD analysis confirms the real, but temporary improvement in air quality; it also shows a significant correlation between air quality improvement and the timing and location of plant closure and traffic control. These results suggest that it is possible to achieve real environmental improvement via stringent policy interventions, but for how long the effects of these interventions will last will largely depend on the continuation of the interventions.
2)
The author provides data from several departments and centers mentioned in question 4. The data from Beijing, Neighbor Cities, Co-host Cities and Control cities is compared.
oAir Pollution Index (API) data: measured intensities of NO2, SO2 and PM10 into range from 0 to 500
oThe daily 10 km Aerosol Optimal Depth (AOD) data acquired from NASA.
oInformation about location-specific actions collected from Beijing only.
oData on economic development indicators, including GDP growth rate, GDP per capita, total industrial production, and population density by city and year of the statistical yearly book published by the National Statistical Bureau.
Before the establishment of the BOCOG, the average APIs of Beijing and its neighboring cities were 20–50 points higher than that of control and co-host cities. While the API of every city group improved before the end of the Games, neighboring cities did not show improvement in the preparation period. In comparison, the improvement in Beijing was not obvious until the start of the Games. During the Games, the API of Beijing and its neighbor cities was better than the rest of the sample.
AOD is positively correlated with API. The AOD of Beijing increased during the Games and the most significant drop in AOD appeared in 2–5 months after the Games. By spring 2009, the AOD of Beijing bounced back to that of the benchmark period, but improved somewhat in the rest of 2009. Similar improvement and reversion patterns appear when we plot the satellite-based AOD over Beijing for the periods before, during, immediately after, and one year after the Games. The plotted AOD were corrected for meteorological conditions and spatiotemporal trends in and around Beijing.
4.What actors (individuals or organizations) are referred to? (Provide names and short descriptions.)
Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People’s Republic of China (MEP): is a cabinet-level ministry in the executive branch of the Government of China. It replaced the SEPA during the March 2008 National People's Congress sessions in Beijing.
China Meteorological Administration (CMA): is the national weather service for China
National Climatic Data Center: ANational Weather Records Center located in North Carolina.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA): is the United State Government agency responsible for the civilian space program as well aerospace research.
5.What kind of causation or responsibility is argued or implied in the article?
China viewed the 2008 Olympic as a political opportunity and China adopted a series of radical measures to improve air quality in Beijing. However, most of this improvement in air quality dissipated 1 year after the Games. The government should keep the air quality improvement in Beijing as a long-term goal.
6.How (if at all) are health disparities or other equity issues addressed in the article or report?
Not particularly mentioned.
7.What three points, details or references from the article did you follow up on to advance your understanding of the issued and actors described in the article?
The AOD analysis shows a significant correlation between air quality improvement and the timing and location of plant closure and traffic control.
It remains an open question as to whether it is more beneficial to society if the same resources were distributed more evenly across geographic space and time.
It is possible to improve air quality through intensive cleaning actions in a fairly short period, but its effectiveness may decline when the motivation for cleaning wanes.
8.How literature supports/opposes what you knew about 2008 Beijing Olympics?
Overall, the API concentration in Beijing was reduced by 24.9% during the Games as compared to one year before any Olympic-motivated action. In addition, the detailed analysis of AOD within Beijing shows that both traffic control and plant closure were largely responsible for the air quality improvement in Beijing. Thus, after the traffic restriction and power plant closure, the air quality in Beijing recovered in the speed of light.
9.How literature could be useful in assessing air quality management during the 2008 Beijing Olympics?
There exist real air quality improvement in Beijing during and after the Games. Several actions stated from the article were applied during preparation period for Olympic: plant closure, furnace renovation, new automobile emission standards, and traffic control. Measuring API and AOD concentration is the most typical and representative method for air quality measurement. The mathematical methods described in the article are one of the most useful models applied by Beijing government during Beijing Olympic to monitor air quality in and around Beijing.
1. Full citation and link.
Yuyu Chen, Ginger Zhe Jin, Naresh Kumar, Guang Shi, The Promise of Beijing: Evaluating the impact of the 2008 Olympic Games on Air Quality, 2013.
2. What two (or more) quotes capture the message of the article?
“ These actions, including plant closure/relocation, furnace replacement, introduction of new emission standards, and stringent traffic control, cost over US$10 billion2 In addition, given the $42.9 billion spent on city infrastructure and Olympic stadiums, Beijing Olympics were arguably the largest natural experiment in air cleaning and the most expensive Games in the Olympic history. Because most adopted measures were temporary, lessons learned from this special event will help us understand the effectiveness of intensive but temporary policies in the fight against air pollution. ”
“China adopted a number of air cleaning policies for the Olympic Games. After the International Olympic Committee awarded Beijing the 2008 Games on July 13, 2001, China established the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) on December 13, 2001. The main responsibility of the BOCOG was preparing for the 2008 Games; this included infrastructure development, environment improvement, public relations, and logistics. The three main concepts promoted by the BOCOG were “Green Olympics, High-tech Olympics and People's Olympics,” highlighting the importance of environmental protection and public interests. ”
3. What is the main point of the article, and how is it supported?
1)
To prepare for the 2008 Olympic Games, China adopted a number of radical measures to improve air quality. The article uses officially reported air pollution index (API) from 2000 to 2009 to show that these measures improved the API of Beijing during and a little after the Games, but a significant proportion of the effect faded away by October 2009. For comparison, we also analyze an objective and indirect measure of air quality at a high spatial resolution – aerosol optimal depth (AOD), derived using the data from NASA satellites. The AOD analysis confirms the real, but temporary improvement in air quality; it also shows a significant correlation between air quality improvement and the timing and location of plant closure and traffic control. These results suggest that it is possible to achieve real environmental improvement via stringent policy interventions, but for how long the effects of these interventions will last will largely depend on the continuation of the interventions.
2)
The author provides data from several departments and centers mentioned in question 4. The data from Beijing, Neighbor Cities, Co-host Cities and Control cities is compared.
4. What actors (individuals or organizations) are referred to? (Provide names and short descriptions.)
Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People’s Republic of China (MEP): is a cabinet-level ministry in the executive branch of the Government of China. It replaced the SEPA during the March 2008 National People's Congress sessions in Beijing.
China Meteorological Administration (CMA): is the national weather service for China
National Climatic Data Center: ANational Weather Records Center located in North Carolina.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA): is the United State Government agency responsible for the civilian space program as well aerospace research.
5. What kind of causation or responsibility is argued or implied in the article?
China viewed the 2008 Olympic as a political opportunity and China adopted a series of radical measures to improve air quality in Beijing. However, most of this improvement in air quality dissipated 1 year after the Games. The government should keep the air quality improvement in Beijing as a long-term goal.
6. How (if at all) are health disparities or other equity issues addressed in the article or report?
Not particularly mentioned.
7. What three points, details or references from the article did you follow up on to advance your understanding of the issued and actors described in the article?
The AOD analysis shows a significant correlation between air quality improvement and the timing and location of plant closure and traffic control.
It remains an open question as to whether it is more beneficial to society if the same resources were distributed more evenly across geographic space and time.
It is possible to improve air quality through intensive cleaning actions in a fairly short period, but its effectiveness may decline when the motivation for cleaning wanes.
8. How literature supports/opposes what you knew about 2008 Beijing Olympics?
Overall, the API concentration in Beijing was reduced by 24.9% during the Games as compared to one year before any Olympic-motivated action. In addition, the detailed analysis of AOD within Beijing shows that both traffic control and plant closure were largely responsible for the air quality improvement in Beijing. Thus, after the traffic restriction and power plant closure, the air quality in Beijing recovered in the speed of light.
9. How literature could be useful in assessing air quality management during the 2008 Beijing Olympics?
There exist real air quality improvement in Beijing during and after the Games. Several actions stated from the article were applied during preparation period for Olympic: plant closure, furnace renovation, new automobile emission standards, and traffic control. Measuring API and AOD concentration is the most typical and representative method for air quality measurement. The mathematical methods described in the article are one of the most useful models applied by Beijing government during Beijing Olympic to monitor air quality in and around Beijing.
Citation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Environmental_Protection_of_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China