Olympics-Haze over Beijing with two days to opening

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By Lindsay Beck

BEIJING, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Haze settled over Beijing on Wednesday, two days before the start of the Olympic Games that have been beset by worries over pollution, but experts were predicting clear skies for the opening ceremony.

Compounding weather worries, Hong Kong, where equestrian events are scheduled to start on Saturday, raised a warning for an approaching tropical storm.

Tropical storms often develop over the Pacific and South China Sea in the summer months, growing into full-fledged typhoons threatening China, the Philippines, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan.

"Severe" Tropical Storm Kammuri was centred about 130 km (80 miles) south-southwest of Hong Kong and was forecast to move west-northwest.

That could mean welcome rain later in Beijing, but possible troubles in Hong Kong, where competitors had discussed the possibility of a delays in the competition due to the weather.

Cloudy skies were forecast for Wednesday and Thursday in Beijing where the Environmental Protection Bureau showed that levels of particulate matter were within the "fairly good" range.

But humid, still weather and temperatures forecast to reach 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit) meant stubborn smog hung over the city, which has already pulled millions of cars from the roads and suspended some factory production to ensure a better Games environment. The city's chronic pollution, a source of respiratory illness, has been one of the biggest worries for Games organisers who have had to deflect international criticism over air quality.

For athletes of endurance events, the smog could pose a major problem and the International Olympic Committee has said it might reschedule events if the pollution is too bad.

But a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences said that if the weather does not change dramatically, Beijing's air quality would stay in the "fairly good" range for the opening ceremony on Friday.

"I think the city's comprehensive and strict measures to control pollution have paid off," Xinhua news agency quoted Wang Zifa, with the Academy's Institute of Atmospheric Science, as saying.

Beijing's Meteorological Bureau was forecasting overcast weather, but Wang predicted rain, which could clear the haze and brighten prospects for blue skies on Friday.

But the metropolis of 15 million will also see winds from the south in the next few days, Xinhua quoted environmental experts as saying, meaning pollution from neighbouring provinces could waft into the city.

The problem of pollution in outlying areas underscores the complicated challenge the city faces in trying to contain the environmental effects of decades of breakneck economic growth. (Editing by Nick Macfie)

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