Olympic torch leaves a marathon footprint

It's not exactly been plain sailing for the poor old olympic torch. Already snuffed out twice and reduced to travelling by bus in Paris, its progress around the 23 Olympic cities has been seriously hampered by controversy over China's recent behaviour in Tibet.

But that's just the beginning for the infamous symbol of strength and athleticism: it's also been revealed that the 'pyro parade' will emit 5,500 tons of CO2, factoring in all the flights that will take it between London, Paris, San Francisco, Bangkok, Islamabad and Almaty to name but a few of the locations it will visit.