Bejing often suffers choking air. But there's now…

Bejing often suffers choking air. But there's now one more thing 1 to dissipate it: an Olympics. The 2008 summer games impelled those in charge of the Chinese 2 to clear the air. Not only did they banish smog and smoke, they also inadvertently cut greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 96,000 metric tons during the games. That's according to a new analysis 3 in Geophysical Research Letters on July 20th. The key was banning half of all the private cars in the city from driving on any particular day during the event. The finding suggests that individual choices like whether to drive or take public transit to work have major 4 effects. London's so-called 5 charge for driving in town likewise cuts traffic and pollution. This year, London is bidding to have the most 6 friendly Olympics ever. That includes building new stadiums atop former industrial sites and urging fans to choose public transit, walking or cycling. But the British may not match the Chinese 7, or even attempt to make the London games carbon neutral. The Olympics that finally achieves zero carbon would really merit a gold, for green.