The gray vapors that have been swirling around Beijing for the past week or so have become a talking point as we count down to opening day at the Olympic Games.
Suddenly, everyone is a meteorologist and predicting whether it will rain during the opening ceremony, or describing the kind of atmospheric conditions we will be dealing with from Aug 8 to Sept 17, when the Paralympics concludes.
The weather has become a lightning rod to divide optimists and pessimists. The former describe the overcast conditions as fog or mist, clouds on the ground that will naturally disperse in the next few days or weeks. The latter say the smog is a photochemical soup that endangers the respiratory systems of locals and athletes.
No one denies there is pollution in Beijing, a natural result of the country's rapid development, but much has been done to alleviate the problem since bidding for the Games nine years ago. Factories have been shut down and moved out of the city, tens of thousands of homes have switched from oil to gas heating and vehicle emissions have been reduced.
In addition, a proportion of the city's vehicles will be banned from the roads from July 20, construction and spray painting will be halted, polluting industries have been told to cut emissions by a further 30 percent and straw burning in neighboring provinces will be curtailed. Foreign experts have been brought in to monitor progress.
Having done what they can, the organizers of the Olympic Games could be forgiven for feeling under the weather with all this gray matter about. They have, after all, promised the International Olympic Committee to improve air quality for the Games. Clear blue skies are the most visible signs of success in this respect.
As for the likelihood of rain in August, traditionally the second-wettest month of the year, organizers are prepared to take extreme measures and plan to fire rockets packed with silver iodide into the muggy heavens to disperse the rain, should it threaten.
Dispelling the fog, smog and rain that could cast a cloud over the Olympics is a tough task, since jurisdiction of the elements has traditionally been in the laps of the gods.
Organizers cannot work miracles, they can only take precautions and introduce sensible measures. Having done so, we should accept what comes and if it rains on our parade then it is not the end of the world.
