Originally Posted by
trueblu
Yes, and no. THere will be a large excess of death this week due to the pollution, and that is a function of large population in Beijing and the very vulnerable people succumbing. However, crunching the numbers (someone else did, but I vagely trust it), even breathing the air the last 24hrs was no 'worse' than smoking 3-5 cigarettes -- which rather puts it all into perspective.
People who go clubbing in Beijing every week probably get exposed to much worse air a month on average than the last few days.
tb
Maybe so if you look only at the short-term. But I have been in Beijing for 10+ years. I have coronary artery disease and a bypass surgery already under my belt...and I'm not even qualified to be a Senior Citizen yet! After many years of not really having the bad air affect me in any noticeable way on a day-to-day basis, since 2010, I can honestly say it does. You can see why I'm not eager to return and in fact, have decided to not return to Beijing as home base. Only short visits if necessarily. If I'm to continue on in China, it will have to be at a different location....and there are relatively few places one can base out of that have both a) decent air and b) work.
The handwriting is on the wall.