Published on foto8.com on August 7, 2008:
As the Beijing Olympics approach, photographer Sean Gallagher exposes the true extent of the city’s extreme air pollution.
From the New York Times by Juliet Macur, published August 5, 2008:
After months of speculation about how Olympic athletes would react to the air quality problems here, some answers arrived at the airport Tuesday, when four track cyclists on the United States team stepped off their flight wearing masks over their mouths and noses.
From the China Daily By Li Jing, published August 6, 2008:
Beijing’s air does not pose any health risk for athletes, officials and other visitors, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said Tuesday.
Dispelling all fears over overcast and hazy skies in the city, the IOC said data on Beijing’s air quality is being assessed on an hourly basis.
Haze does not mean poor quality air, a senior Beijing environmental official said a week ago.
Published by Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health (2008) Vol. I by Wang Wenxin et al.
This article, published online April 30, 2008, looks at the hard science behind Beijing’s pollution figures. The research attempts to go beyond the Beijing Ministry of Environmental Protection numbers (which are listed with our photos) to determine the true sources and levels of major pollutants ahead of the Beijing Games.
From the New York Times by Jim Yardley, published August 1, 2008:
China’s environmental regulators on Thursday unveiled stricter emergency pollution controls for the Olympic Games that would shutter more factories and expand traffic restrictions if air quality failed to meet approved standards once the competition began next week.
From the New York Times by Flora Zhang, published August 1, 2008:
The New York Times Olympics blog covers the 2008 Beijing Games from every angle — the politics, the arts, the culture, the competition. Reporters and editors from the sports, foreign and business desks, as well as bureaus in China and elsewhere, will be contributing items now through the games in August. Read Flora Zhang’s interview with Orville Schell, the Arthur Ross Director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations.
From the South China Morning Post via blip.tv, published on July 28, 2008:
The 2008 Olympic village officially opened its doors to more than 16,000 athletes,
coaches and representatives on Sunday. But amid the colourful fanfare, a thick blanket
of smog continued to overshadow Beijing. Watch the video.
From the New York Times by Jim Yardley, published on July 29, 2008:
But on Monday, China’s official English-language newspaper, China Daily, ran a front-page story under a boldfaced headline: “Emergency green plan for Games.” The article warned that officials may force far more vehicles off city streets — possibly 90 percent of the city’s total — and temporarily close more factories.
From Xinhua News Agency via ChinaDaily.com.cn:
The Chinese capital began on Sunday a two-month-long control of vehicle use to ease traffic pressure and improve air quality 19 days before the opening of the Olympic Games.
According to a short-term traffic rule effective from July 20 through September 20, vehicles with even and odd plate number run on alternate days in the metropolis, which boasts 3.29 million vehicles.
From the New York Times by Gina Kolata published on July 16, 2008:
Few could miss seeing the ever-present photos of Beijing shrouded in a gray mist of smog. Many have heard horror stories from athletes who have competed in Beijing.
The mountain biker Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski raced in Beijing last September. The air was thick with smog and he was convulsed with coughing fits. “I had to abandon the race,” he said. He was not alone. Only 8 of the 50 cyclists who started the race completed it, an attrition rate that is “just unheard of,” Horgan-Kobelski said.
From the New York Times, by Jim Yardley published on July 9, 2008:
With a month remaining before the Beijing Olympics, the International Olympic Committee on Tuesday praised the city’s preparations but also cited two “open issues” that remain: whether the city can deliver good air quality and fulfill promises to allow television networks to broadcast from non-Olympic sites.
From the New York Times’ Globespotters by Donald Morrison published on June 1, 2008:
But there is a problem that may elude the best efforts of Bocog and its bureaucratic allies. It awaits me every morning on my windowsill: a layer of dust so thick you can write a newspaper article with your finger. Beijing lies downwind of the Gobi Desert, and every year, that dusty ocean advances by a few more li or chi or something toward the gates of the city, if those gates hadn’t been demolished by Mao and other visionaries.
From the Atlantic Monthly published in June 2008:
Here is what I learned by visiting the cement factory, and by seeing and asking about many similar “green” projects in China: China’s environmental situation is disastrous. And it is improving. Everyone knows about the first part. The second part is important too. Outside recognition of where and why China has made progress increases the prospects that it will make further advances.
From AFP published on May 27, 2008
“Sensitive individuals should avoid going out of doors,” the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau said on its website, announcing that air quality was at “hazardous” level five, the worst possible grade.
But the bureau said experts this time blamed poor air quality on annual springtime sandstorms in Mongolia and China’s region of Inner Mongolia that had blown thousands of tonnes of dust over the Chinese capital.
From Atmospheric Environment published on August 19, 2006:
China is taking major steps to improve Beijing’s air quality for the 2008 Olympic Games. However, concentrations of fine particulate matter and ozone in Beijing often exceed healthful levels in the summertime. Based on the US EPA’s Models-3/CMAQ model simulation over the Beijing region, we estimate that about 34% of PM2.5 on average and 35-60% of ozone during high ozone episodes at the Olympic Stadium site can be attributed to sources outside Beijing. Neighboring Hebei and Shandong Provinces and the Tianjin Municipality all exert significant influence on Beijing’s air quality. During sustained wind flow from the south, Hebei Province can contribute 50-70% of Beijing’s PM2.5 concentrations and 20-30% of ozone. Controlling only local sources in Beijing will not be sufficient to attain the air quality goal set for the Beijing Olympics. There is an urgent need for regional air quality management studies and new emission control strategies to ensure that the air quality goals for 2008 are met.
From China Daily via Xinhua published on March 18, 2008:
Over the past few weeks, the IOC has made an analysis of a set of air quality data - including temperature, wind, humidity and SO2, NO2, CO, Ozone and PM10 readings - which were taken by the Beijing Environment Protection Bureau in August 2007 and given to the IOC.
“The findings indicate that, at Games time one year out, the health of athletes was largely not impaired,” said the Lausanne-based IOC in a statement.
From Environment News Service published on March 18, 2008:
World record marathoner Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia has announced that he will not participate in the marathon at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Gebrselassie, who suffers from exercise-related asthma, has expressed fears that the air pollution in the Chinese capital will threaten his health.
A new assessment of Beijing air quality released Monday by the International Olympic Committee’s Medical Commission acknowledges for the first time that athletes such as Gebrselassie might have something to worry about.
From the Los Angeles Times published on May 12, 2008:
An increasing number of athletes are threatening to skip part or all of the Olympics because they believe the air is unsafe.
Jeff Ruffolo, a public relations consultant to the Beijing Olympics who grew up in the San Fernando Valley, says the concerns about air quality are similar to what he heard in the run-up to the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
From Cornell University’s Chronicle Online published on May 1, 2008:
Zhang’s general research interests lie in what happens to the particles emitted from cars, trucks and power plants.
“I am interested in how these particles are made and how they disperse — how they transport and transform in the air,” Zhang said.
From Science Daily published on April 16, 2008:
“Air quality in Beijing in the summertime is dictated by meteorology and topography,” said David Streets, a senior scientist in Argonne’s Decision and Information Sciences Division. “Typically, temperatures are high, humidity is high, wind speeds are low, and the surrounding hills restrict venting of pollution. Thus, regional pollutants and ozone build up over several days until dispersed by wind or removed by rain.
From the New York Times by Andrew Jacobs published on April 15, 2008:
City officials laid out an ambitious series of measures on Monday that will freeze construction projects, slow down steel production and shut down quarries in and around this capital during the summer in an attempt to clear the air for the Olympics. Even spray-painting outdoors will be banned during the weeks before and after sporting events, which begin here on Aug. 8.
From official Xinhua News Agency published on April 15, 2008:
Work at Beijing construction sites will be suspended in the run-up to, and during, the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the municipal government announced yesterday.
The suspension - along with a slew of other initiatives - to be effective from July 20 to September 20, aims to ensure better air quality during the Games, said Du Shaozhong, deputy director of the Beijing environment protection bureau.
From the New York Times blog “Rings: 2008 Beijing Olympics” published on March 27, 2008:
With Beijing’s air quality plummeting because of a sandstorm blowing in today from Mongolia, the municipal government has declared an air quality emergency and advised people with respiratory problems to stay indoors.
From Time magazine published March 14, 2008:
Steven Q. Andrews has written two op-eds for the Asian version of the Wall Street Journal, in which he accuses Beijing’s Environmental Protection Bureau of tweaking its method of calculating the city’s air pollution index. That index is critical, because it is used to tabulate “blue sky days,” which are the chief measure of Beijing’s ability to control air pollution. When the blue-sky program was launched in 1998, there were just 100 days; last year the city recorded 246. But Andrews alleges that by changing the makeup of Beijing’s air-pollution index, and dropping monitoring sites in areas with poor air quality, the city has been able to show improvements that don’t match the reality of its smoggy skies.
From NPR’s Morning Edition published on March 11, 2008,:
Athletes competing in the Olympic Games this summer in Beijing have to overcome the city’s poor air quality. Marathon world record holder Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia has pulled out of the event. To find out what ways athletes may be affected by China s environmental conditions, Steve Inskeep talks to Christine Brennan, a sports columnist for USA Today.
From NPR’s All Things Considered published on March 6, 2008:
China is now the largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Michele Norris, who is in Beijing, talks to Melissa Block about what the country is doing to combat climate change. Deborah Seligsohn of the World Resources Institute discusses the measures China is taking to clean up the air before the Summer Olympics.
From NPR’s All Things Considered published on Jan. 30, 2008:
With less than 200 days to go before the Beijing Olympics, China’s capital appears on schedule to finish work on its new hotels, stadiums and subway lines. But Beijing faces an uphill fight to solve its notorious air pollution problem by August, and the government is preparing to order traffic off the streets to try to keep skies blue.
From the New York Times by Jim Yardley published on Jan. 10, 2008:
“Irregularities in the monitoring of air quality account for all reported improvements over the last nine years,” said Steven Q. Andrews, the author of the study, in a telephone interview. Mr. Andrews published an op-ed article about his study on Wednesday in the Asian edition of The Wall Street Journal.
From the New York Times by Juliet Macur published on Aug. 26, 2007:
At next year’s Olympics in Beijing, if pollution levels in that city are not abated to limits acceptable for the athletes, experts say, conditions for the marathon and other endurance events will be much worse than they were here Saturday.
From NPR’s Morning Edition published on August 17, 2007:
To clean up the smog and gridlock before the Olympic Games, Beijing officials embarked on a trial run of a system of odd-even license plates. Because today is the 17th, only vehicles with license plates ending in odd numbers can be on the roads. When the four-day trial ends, all cars will be back.
From IHT via AP published on August 7, 2007:
Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, acknowledged Wednesday that Beijing’s air pollution could force the postponement of outdoor events during next year’s Olympics.
The statement from Rogge came just hours before Beijing was to celebrate the one-year mark in the countdown for next year’s opening ceremony. A party in Tiananmen Square to celebrate the moment was to be attended by 10,000 people, including Chinese President Hu Jintao.
From Guardian published on Oct. 31, 2005:
As it gears up to host the 2008 Olympic Games Beijing has been awarded an unwelcome new accolade: the air pollution capital of the world.
Satellite data has revealed that the city is one of the worst environmental victims of China’s spectacular economic growth, which has brought with it air pollution levels that are blamed for more than 400,000 premature deaths a year.
Feed links:
Sep 4, 2008
iTS GOOD THEY WANT TO CHANGE THINGS BUT SOMETIMES YOU CANT ITS JUST TO HARD IF THEY DID THIS 20-25 YEARS AGO THE MIGHT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO CHANGE THINGS BUT NOW ITS JUST TOO LATE SO GIVE UP OR JUST WORK TO NOT POLUTE ANYMORE
Sep 3, 2008
i want a job as photographer
Aug 31, 2008
China can do what ever it wants, but if its smart then it won’t do want Dum ass G W Bush didn’t do and start cutting down on Green house gases. That what can put China ahead of the world and make it a good global citizen.
Aug 31, 2008
very nice and very grece ful pictures
Aug 29, 2008
it’s too better to clear air
Aug 29, 2008
china is a very tributial country they can do the wonders what ever they want
Aug 27, 2008
This is an amazing cross media project. It shows what is the limit in new media design. A webpage to come back many more times.
Aug 27, 2008
In Australia we are sad that China has so much pollution and we were wondering if there was any info there is that you couled give us to help out?
Aug 24, 2008
chinees people are doing the sacrifies for rest of the world beacuse we are all using their cheep products yet all this china able to get the highest number of gold medal. in the issue of polution usa creat the highest polution in the world why people not talking about this?
Aug 24, 2008
veri veri good i love
Aug 23, 2008
why! only about china every developed and developing countries in this world were a mere cause for pollutiion.Besides even elixir has a side effect,you cant die even if you wanted to.so why spill mud on eachother overall everyone commits mistakes.lets share the technofruit.but one should have keen opinion about surroundings.
Aug 22, 2008
Just check the facts of pollution per head of the population, you might be surprised…Of course China is a big polluter, afterall, 22% of the world’s population live there. Pollution is a GLOBAL problem and NOT a Chinese one. If more copied China’s example of using bicycles instead of ‘gas-guzzling’ 4×4s - especially when they don’t need such a vehicle - then more pollution would be reduced. It’s time to work as one world and stop blaming so many others. No matter who is to blame the whole world must work together to make the planet safe for future generations.
It’s wonderful for China and the Chinese to host the olympics for the first time AND to make such an outstanding and historic event. China has arrived, move over USA and let a peaceful nation have more to say about the world we live in.
Aug 18, 2008
China is the super power of the world. And also it is a communist country. Western capitalist countries dont like this situation at all. Hence they tend to complain and run down China in many ways. One is human right case. other one is environmental case. How about the env. Polution in other countries. Why only about China. Western countries are afraid of the gigantic development of a Communist Country like China. For asians, is a wonerful experience. The economical development is reflected by the number of gold medels won by China in the olympic games this time. We wish China the best.
Aug 18, 2008
Thank you, Asia Society, for one of the most balanced perspective on this issue of Global Climate Change and the blame game!
If every American were to pay 0.5% carbon tax for every item that they buy that is stamped “Made in China” and this money is then designated strictly for a Chinese government-run fund (with oversight by America’s Environmental Protection Agency)to subsidize Chinese factories for installation or upgrading of pollution control, renewable energy, water recycling and energy efficiency measures, China will have Blue Skies within 5 years!
Aug 18, 2008
i agree with person. if we cut down on what we consume i think the invironment would be alot better.
Aug 12, 2008
The air over Beijing, if not the entire country, seems to have some sticky aspect that pollutants ar reluctant to get wafted away. The air should be still in these places They cover the city like a shroud. Already the chinese are heavy smokers and this pollution is certainly going to make the people there suffer more and longer, healthwise.
R Vasudevan
Aug 11, 2008
May be if we all stopped being consumer addicts, the world wouldn’t be so screwed up. The U.S is the biggest offender. JUST STOP CONSUMER BEYOND WHAT YOU NEED!!!!
Aug 11, 2008
(?????????+??????????) de yi si shi : qi che + kong tiao hui mie le ren lei de da qi huan jing , jiu suan chui duo da de huan bao ye bu yong le .(xi wang hui pin yin de neng kan dong)
Aug 11, 2008
yun , jing ran bu zhi chi zhong wen ,ai ……,mei fa ,zhi neng da pin yin,kan you mei you zhong guo ren kan dong le ,………….wo zhe xie fu hao qi shi shi zhong wen zi lai de (??????????+???????????????????),zhi shi ni men de xi tong tai luo hou ,lian ge zhong wen dou bu jian rong,bu ming bai ,xian zai hai you ren yong zhe yang de xi tong,wo yuan hua shi zhe yang de : qi che + kong tiao hui mie le ren lei de da qi huan jing , jiu suan chui duo da de huan bao ,ye mei yong……………..
Asia Society response: We are working to fix the problem with Chinese input now. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Aug 8, 2008
Looks like God is answering my prayers. Today’s view shows improvement over yesterday’s!
Aug 8, 2008
china is the biggest dumping ground and i think that you should do something about it cause i accspect i will go there some day so clean it up the video was pretty cool
Aug 7, 2008
My Dear tsetop,
You have made your point. But I would rather not mix sports, particularly the Olympics with other issues, which must be addressed seperately.
Its not that I have no compassion towards the Tibetans, or that I am insensitive to human rights violations, but using the Olympics to highlight these issues would be in bad sporting spirit.
No matter in what all issues we differ, we must agree that the Olympics should be played out most successfully to the satisfaction of all sports loving fraternity.
Thats why I pray to God that weather should co-operate and blow the air-pollution away from Beijing atleast till the end of the Games.
Aug 7, 2008
subramanian, i also agree your story.realy they are hardly working and well planed this moment but dont spoil it. some one want to be unsessesfull this game.dont worry uncarege.
Aug 7, 2008
Tsetop, are you in Tibet now? if so, you seem to have your freedom on telling everybody what’s really going on there, and can it be called ‘ heavily militarized’? if not, how do you know it is heavily militarized? why don’t you come and see for yourself? or you’re just being blindminded by those intentionally defame China?
I’ve been to Tibet myself. I believe what i saw.
Aug 7, 2008
me and my friend hope the air gets really better for the games if not i hope u survive and maby get a gold medal throght this struggle bye
Aug 6, 2008
Subramanium, I agree that Chinese Olympic Organizers have worked extra hard in presenting an exceptional Olympic this time. However, I beg to differ on the point about them having nearly succeeded. One must not overlook what is happening in the backyard of this Olympic charade.
Tibet after the recent protest continues to be heavily militarized and locked down. While Beijingers regale over the celebration of Olympics, Tibetans continue to live in an atmosphere of fear and terror.
The issue of air quality should not therefore overshadow the bigger issue of Human Rights situation inside. I would therefore not go too far to be too generous in giving credit to the Chinese leaders like that.
Aug 6, 2008
I do really feel sorry for the Chinese Olympic organizers. They worked so hard for seven long years to showcase the games as proof of their having acheived world class abilities to invest and organise the world’s biggest sporting event. And they have nearly succeeded except for the control of air pollution that threatens to play spoil sport. Even though they cant believe in God, being communists, I do pray ‘God, please help them’.
Your ‘Window with a view’ daily series has been most revealing. Afterall photos cant lie.
Aug 6, 2008
Pour le fumé,chaque pays du monde doivent conjuguer les éfforts considerables visant à proteger éfficassement l’environnement à giguler la pollution athmospherique sur les aspects ci-apres ,
1.Protection de la couche d’Ozone.
2.veuillez à l’augmentation de Gaze , …
Ces aspects concerne l’écosystème.R.D.Congo.
Aug 6, 2008
I agree in China there a lot of pulotion, however the people who live there are more health than western people. Because they eat well, work hard and paceful mind, less people get diabetisc and hypertention. If you live in China, you will feel how wanderful contry it is and how nice the people they are. Do not blem the negative site, pls try to find the where it is the positive part
Aug 5, 2008
I was in Beijing before during and after Chinese New Year..Jan 28 to Feb 15. I noticed on this photo diary that the before and after New Year week, the pollution was higher. During New Year week it was clearer.
Also, one day during Chinese New Year week, while in my son’s apartment I got up about 3am to go to the bathroom and I looked out the window. Couldn’t see the next apartment building a block away.
Aug 5, 2008
Would it be possible to provide closed captioning (or something similar) for you videos? I’m not allowed to have the volume up and I don’t have earphones, so I can’t follow what is going on. But the pictures (of the smoggy sky) are nice.
Aug 5, 2008
By looking at the daily window view of the pollution level. I don’t think the smog level has anything to do with what Beijingers do. It seems everything depends on the wind direction and change in the weather condition. So I think if there will be a mild storm or a change in the weather, the sky should be clear and pollution level at the minimum on Aug 8th.
Aug 4, 2008
I recently spent 10 weeks at my daughters residence in Beijing, between
mid Mar to end May08. Although my wife and i saw polution on some days, surprisingly we felt much much healthier in Beijing than Bombay(Mumbai), where we hail from. Whereas in Bombay i would get easily tired, if i walked only a kilometer, in Beijing any amount of walking did not tire us! I even conveyed this strange experiance to my friends back at home and we have been unable to explain this nvironmentally.
Aug 4, 2008
This is awesome.
Aug 3, 2008
Because China is communit, the people don’t need to be consulted when north americans decide to move factories that pollute…any protest over the acid rains and caustic chemicals in the air would immediate result in arrests. We live in relatively unpolluted cities but at the price of other humans elsewhere…I feel sad and hypocritical knowing that it is mostly our factories that are in China causing this.
Aug 2, 2008
When we moved our factory to China, we also moved our pollution to China.
Aug 1, 2008
Love the site! Thanks - and how wonderful to see that only 5 days in JUly were polluted in beijing!
Aug 1, 2008
china is a dumping ground for the world america is not perfect but if we want to change for the better we all going to have to work together the whole world
Aug 1, 2008
Orville,
Good to see you’re still on topic, and as always, on point. Of course the real question is what the air quality will be like in China in the months and years following the Olympics.
In the meantime I hope that you and Bai Fang are breathing free in Beijing.
Mark
Aug 1, 2008
China is the ‘world’s factory’ and Cheap, high quality goods from China are sold everywhere.
US Labor Department figures show American shoppers are paying significantly LESS than they were four years ago for many typical Chinese exports.
Many global firms have built their own factories in China, such as mobile phone firm Motorola and consumer electronics giant Philips and GE, because the low-cost labor.
So PLEASE don’t just blame China, instead we should give them time and help to improve.
Aug 1, 2008
Darn internet connections in China… only half the video will load.
@ Charles - you are correct. They measure their readings differently, and in a manner that is not consistent.
@ Liz - enjoy your work and cover is on Crossroads (www.china-crossroads.com). Hope someday to meet when you are back in China. there are a lot of very interesting things that are going on here in terms of developing solutions and awareness.
@ Isabel - Also a huge fan of CD. some excellent writing lately
A lot is being made of the recent events, and I am a bit surprised that the actions taken on removing more cars and shutting down more factories have not come quicker. I have been tracking a lot of domestic press and speaking to a number of firms, and we were all expecting a lot more closures here. The warning had been sent out, but perhaps the economic situation is preventing them?
R
http://www.china-crossroads.com
http://www.allroadsleadtochina.com
Jul 31, 2008
What do you have to say about the fact that China’s standard’s for measuring what is safe airwise is not the same as the EPAs? A “blue sky day” according to China’s standards is not necessarily healthy according to EPA standards.
Jul 31, 2008
Great video Orville, et al.
One small question–when you said U.S. per capita emissions of greenhouse gases are 5X that of China, is that for all GHG? For CO2, I believe the number is slightly under 4X. Thanks, Liz
Jul 31, 2008
This room with a view is an excellent way to deal with this issue visually and this represents a great entry into Beijing’s air pollution problems. What is necessary is to build some bibliography (urls and books) that direct people to more detailed aspects of the problem such as problems about location of measurement sites, details about types of control needed to clean the air, more accurate detail as to causes of Beijing’s air pollution, and relationship of air pollution to water and solid waste pollution in Beijing.
Jul 31, 2008
This looks great.. but when I play the video it skpis back to the beginniing when I hit the girl with the plaid skirt. I can’t seem to get past it..
Asia Society response: - If the project does not automatically advance to the next chapter on completion of the video, just click on the “Room With a View” (or other) tab above the video. Clicking in the video will cause it to play again.
Jul 30, 2008
Room with a view is great! Other photos give a very good perspective of Beijing. I was there last Oct and had 10 days of exceptional clear blue skies. Had to show pictures to prove it. The birdsnest stadium can’t be captured in a photo. The design and detail work is incredible close up.It looks like something out of Frank Gearys designs. Beijing was repainting and fixing many important structure, especially within the forbidden city, so the detail work is all freshly painted.The last of the Hutongs should be seen before they’re all destroyed. Its the areas where the people lived before the community housing projects, the equivalent of a city block or two, with original housing. Also see the art center, called the Factory… an old manufacturing facility converted to an Art Center with 100 exhibitors.
Jul 30, 2008
Audio is choppy when I attempted to view videos. I have Flash Player 9 and Windows Media Player. I never used to have this problem. How do I clear this problem.
Asia Society response: hard to tell without knowing more about your computer. Try quitting and relaunching your browser. We recommend Firefox 3.0.
Jul 29, 2008
Where are the photography credits?
Some great shots in there.
Ryan
Asia Society response: Longing for Blue Skies photo credits are near the end of the video (5:28).
Jul 29, 2008
wonderful but the line breaks in the text at the video launch page are very inconsistent, and you need to use curly apostrophe vs. foot mark for possessives.