Moscow is burning and the reaction in China is rather mixed. While many around the world naturally fret, especially as out-of-control wildfires fires creep ever closer to the volatile Russian nuclear arsenal, here in China, there is a general sense of: “glad its not us.”

Lest this sound callous, realize that from the Chinese perspective, practically anytime there is a world catastrophe – jet fighter colliding with alleged spy plane; embassy mistakenly destroyed in oops-US bombing raid, new bird flu or respiratory disease threatening the globe like a black plague; flood, famine or ethnic minority uprising – China seems to be the location du jour.

So while it may be a relief that fires that have consumed over half a million acres already aren’t blazing here in the Middle Kingdom, there is also a smoldering sense of concern over the rising smog levels – in many cases well beyond the level that human lungs can endure.

Moscow has been hammered with the double whammy of smoke-filled smog and soaring summer temperatures. The mercury has surged to almost 40 degrees (well over 100 F), while particulate matter is more than six times the level that health organizations deem to be safe for breathing.     

Current levels of carbon monoxide, Russia’s chief pulmonologist, Alexander Chuchalin, said equal “the effect of two packs of cigarettes smoked within three or four hours.” And he meant Russian cigarettes (two Russian fags contain about more tar and nicotine than an entire pack of American cigarettes).

The air in Moscow is so putrid that planes have been diverted, and embassies closed (Bulgaria sent home much of its staff, and you know if Bulgaria is concerned about air quality…) In fact, the air in Moscow is so bad, that it may rank as the world’s most polluted city.

Naturally, this rankles some in China, long home to the world’s 10 most polluted cities. For much of the summer, the “air” in Beijing was dark and damp, hanging in the sky like a suffocating curtain. One local health official told Chinareallysucks.com in July that the Beijing air was “no longer safe to breath.”

Astonished, we asked about the alternatives. He said, “Really, you should either leave China, or find another source of oxygen.” (We did leave!)

And China’s claim to the world’s worst air isn’t the only title at stake these days. China is the world’s most populated country – currently with 1.3 billion of us and counting, but that apparently isn’t enough. A report last week from the Population Reference Bureau confirmed what Chinese government officials have been fretting in private – soon there will be more Indians than Chinese.

The PRB report estimates China’s population at 1.34 billion, and projects it will reach almost 1.5 billion by 2050. Yet India’s population growth will be far more ferocious, rising from about 1.19 billion today, to a projected 1.75 billion by 2050.

So, the threat is both present and future, if China intends to continue sucking it the most for such things as unbreathable air and intense overpopulation.