>BEIJING, CHINA: Olympic host city will not last throughout the Games, state media reported as organisers consider more pollution controls.
The sultry haze has Olympic organisers worried that the city's restrictions on vehicles and industry have not done enough to staunch pollution.
Officials have raised the prospect of more pollution controls, in addition to the ones now keeping nearly half of Beijing's 3.3-million cars off the roads and shutting many factories and plants near the capital.
But Mr Guo Wenli, the director of the Beijing Meteorological Bureau's climate centre, told the overseas edition of the People's Daily that historic weather patterns showed that the "sauna" weather conditions of July will not last throughout the Games starting on Aug 8.
"During the Beijing Olympics, the weather won't be the worst compared to the same period historically, and it won't occur the kind of sustained 'sauna fog' of late," he told the paper.
The city's chronic pollution, a sometimes acrid mix of construction dust, vehicle exhaust and factory and power plant fumes, has been one of the biggest worries for Games organisers.
Many athletes have delayed arriving in Beijing until the last minute to avoid bad air, and the International Olympic Committee said it may reschedule endurance events such as the marathon to prevent health risks to athletes if pollution is bad.
Chinese officials have flagged additional pollution controls if the air remains too dirty.
Cars in Beijing are already banned from roads on alternate days depending on their licence- plate number - odd or even - and many government cars have been ordered off the roads.
Taxis, buses and Olympic vehicles are exempt. Around Beijing, heavily-polluting factories, such as steel plants, have
also been closed.
Hong Kong, host to the Games' equestrian events, was hit by its worst air pollution ever recorded on Monday amid soaringtemperatures, but arriving Canadian team leader Michael Gallagher said he had no concerns.
"We have noticed the haze," he told the South China Morning Post. "But it's not black like it is in Beijing."
