Fog/Schmog

Word from our intrepid China correspondent James Fallows is according to the IOC and the Chinese government the Bejing air "does not pose any health risk for athletes, officials and other visitors."

Mr. Fallows doesn't have the expensive air monitoring equipment employed by the Chinese goverment, so he must rely on his own eyes, which seem to show this

His assessment:

FWIW, view at noon today in downtown Beijing. No scientific or medical judgment implied here -- it could just be a kind of fog. Simply chronicling how it looks with two days to go.

Now, I'm not an atmospheric scientist, but I can throw in a few things I know about weather:

1. Water vapor is in fact, invisible.


2. Fog, smog, vog, you name it, is a condensed water vapor suspended in the air.


3. Among other things, water vapor usually needs nucleating particles to condense on.

In my opinion, Mr. Fallows, the Chinese government, the IOC, and the athletes who see fog, or haze, are seeing the effect of particulates in the air, which aren't necessarily "safe."