I live in Tokyo, which is obviously a lot closer to China than the Bay Area is, and here we have PM 2.5 pollution reports on the news a lot like the regular weather report. On the worst days I throw on a 3M respirator[1] before I ride my bike across town, which makes me look like a character from some kind of post-apocalypse video game.

I am glad to see articles like this, because hopefully hard numbers will provide a concrete basis for diplomatic/economic pressure to make it better.

Even if the Chinese leaders are willing to pursue economic growth even at the tremendous cost of making the air in Beijing[2] so bad that (rich) kids go to preschool in pressurized tents, I don't want to have to keep my kid indoors all the way across the Sea of Japan in Tokyo -- but on the worst days, we do (on the advice of the pediatrician).

(In that sense, I am selfishly glad it is reaching the US west coast -- because the US has a lot more leverage to influence China's behavior than does Japan.)

[1]: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001NDN29O/ref=s9_qpp_gw_p6...

[2]: https://www.google.com/search?q=beijing+air&client=safari&rl...

http://missingpeace.eu/en/2013/06/egyptian-cabinet-discuss-w... (Ethiopia is building a hydro-electric dam; filling its lake will mean less water will flow into Egypt for a while; seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Ethiopian_Renaissance_Dam... )

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_conflict

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_conflict_between_Ethiopia...