Having never been west of New York, I pondered what Salt Lake City would look like as our plane flew closer to Utah from New York City. It clearly wasn’t going to look like New York City. In fact it didn’t look like any other city I had been to up until that point. Salt Lake City sits in the middle of The Great Salt Lake, The Wasatch and The Oquirrh mountain ranges. The tallest building in Salt Lake City is just slightly over 400 feet, which may make one think there isn’t a very picturesque skyline, but with the mountainous backdrop, it’s actually quite breathtaking. That is, if you can see it. Inversion is becoming a more and more serious problem for residents of Salt Lake City and the first few days I was there I experienced it first hand.
Driving from Salt Lake City through the canyon up to Park City, Utah where I’d be staying was like coming out of a cloud. It was very difficult to see any of Salt Lake City because it was full of pretty thick smog that distorted visibility for anything further than a mile away. The city of Salt Lake experiences air inversion due mainly to its location in the mountains. During air inversion, cooler air gets pinned down by warmer air from above, which causes pollutants to get trapped in the cooler air below. An article in The New York Times states, “When heavy winter storms sweep through the area, they leave snow on the Salt Lake Valley floor. But intermittent warm high-pressure systems trap the cold air, creating the effect of a lid on a soup bowl and keeping dirty air from car emissions and other pollutants from escaping. (Frosch A15). The toxicity of the pollutants can be detrimental to human health at long exposures. The textbook Chemistry in Context tells us, “Toxicity is the intrins...
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...e Salt Lake Valley
Salt Lake City is not the only urban are that experiences dangerous Air Quality Index Levels. In fact, there are cities much worse than Salt Lake City for hazardous pollution levels. Many of them are in California, where there is also a lot of “bowl-like” trapping of cool air by surrounding mountain ranges. .
Table Source: World Health Organization
Works Cited
Anderson, Bentley, et al. Chemistry in Context: Applying Chemistry to Society. New
York: McGraw Hill, 2012. Print.
Frosch, Dan. “Seen as Nature Lovers’ Paradise, Utah Struggles With Air Quality.” New
York Times 23 Feb. 2013, late ed.: A15. Print.
"Winter Inversions: What Are They and What We Can All Do To Help." Salt Lake City.
Salt Lake City Council. Web. 12 Feb 2014. .
’[16] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Guterson, David, Snow Falling on Cedars, 1994, pp 367. [2] Ibid. , pp. 107.
States on the lee, or down wind, sides of the great lakes receive lake-effect snow every year. For some cities this can push the average snowfall up to 400 inches. During the February storm of this year records were broken for the most snowfall in one storm. For a duration of the storm snow was falling at a rate of six inches or more per hour. Some of the images captured from the event leave some in disbelief that such a thing could even happen. Storms of this magnitude completely shut down all activity. Many areas do not have equipment capable of handling such mass amounts of snow, and even if they do the task is overwhelming. (weather.com 2006)
Gulbinas, Vilija. “On the Road to Recovery: an Angelino’s Guide to Smog”. Los Angeles, CA: US. 1998. www.ben2.ucla.edu/~vgulbina
Utah is known to have the best snow on earth, we have beautiful scenery, relaxation and recreation all within minutes of our front door. But what about that dirty air that seems to last for months? Utah has four of the nations 100 largest oil fields, which produces 1.2% of the nation’s output, with 3,600 active wells. Utah ranks 11th in the nation of oil production, and we have five refineries in the Salt Lake area that can produce 175,500 barrels of oil per day (House,2012). The major effect of these practices, is the effect of air pollution along the Wasatch Front and the serious health consequences on children, teens and adults.
For my local area, there are no environmental concerns; however, I learned of the detailed information available regarding air quality monitoring – which indicated that the air quality for our location is among the best air quality in the nation. (The state of California leads the nation in several aspects of environmental stewardship.)
Colorado was viewed as a place to visit and live in because of the climate, scenery, and promise of good health to its people (Abbott, Leonard, Noel, 2013, pp. 227). Tourism in Colorado has evolved immensely and has helped form Colorado into what it is today. Before anyone could realize Colorado’s potential as being an iconic tourist place, in the 1860s, journalist began to view Colorado differently. They began to notice Colorado’s scenery and they slowly recognized Colorado’s potential for evolution and development through tourists and travelers (Abbott, Leonard, Noel, 2013, pp. 223). Many people sought good health while they were sick and since the journalists really started to see the value of Colorado, they really made its climate stand out and become more appealing to those who were sick, mentioning the great benefits the climate would have on poor health. One-third of the state’s population consisted of people that were once sick (Abbott, Leonard, Noel, 2013, pp.229).
The lack of storms due to the drought eliminates the natural cleansing effect of precipitation. Low levels of precipitation trap fine particles at ground level. Fine particles in the air are harmful when inhaled and can heighten respiratory illnesses such as asthma and bronchitis. Air toxics are the chemicals in the air that can cause cancer or serious health problems. Mercury, asbestos, and benzene are dangerous air toxics and diesel exhaust particulate is the number one airborne carcinogen in California (California’s drought, 2015).
INTRODUCTION The winter season can be a major hassle for some people while others just have to deal with a slight cool down in temperatures. Over the northern portions of the country, people are faced to deal with the harsh conditions that Mother Nature has in store. Some winter seasons are less brutal than others. Besides the typical storm systems that come through the area and drop different types of precipitation whether it is snow, sleet, or freezing rain, there’s another weather event that affects not everyone in the country, but primarily around the Great Lakes.
New York City, itself, is the most populous city in the United States and with such a large number of people condensed into such a small area, the pollution is more concentrated. Pollution in the form of smog, photochemical smog, fine particulate matter, and ground level ozone is the outcome from human activity in the region (NYSDEC, 2015). The biggest problem caused by ground level smog and/or ozone is its effects on our lungs. It is especially detrimental when someone already has a respiratory illness, like allergies or asthma, which makes it an even larger struggle to breathe. Heating fuels also contribute greatly towards the area’s air pollution (Kheirbek, 2014). The primary the primary types of fuels used for heating are “liquid fuel oils and natural gas” (Kheirbek, 2014). Burning such fuels releases fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, into the air, which causes adverse health effects like, “increased air way inflammation, reduced lung function, and changes in heart rhythm and blood pressure” (Kheirbek, 2014). These symptoms lead to more hospital visits and even premature death (Kheirbek,
The quality of life granted by the air we breathe is protected by organizations such as the GEPD, ALA, and EPA. These organizations operate as a guide to matters about air pollution for Metro Atlanta and cities across the United States. The population of Metro Atlanta is approximately 5.6 million with air pollutant particle matter ranging from PM2.5 and PM10 micrometers. PM2.5 is a measurement of “fine particles produced from all types of combustion, including motor vehicles, power plants, residential wood burning, forest fires, agricultural burning, and some industrial processes” (AirNow, 2017) while PM10 is a measurement of larger “sources which include crushing or grinding operations and dust stirred up by vehicles on roads” (AirNow, 2017).
Mexico City adds an estimated one million new residents each year, resulting in one million new aggravates to the city’s already abominable air quality (Collins, 119). Over the span of a generation, Mexico City’s air has gone from being one of the world’s cleanest to one of the world’s most polluted, as well as the most polluted in its country. The average visibility in the city is down from almost 100 km in the 1940s to only 1.5 km today, removing the once beautiful landscape of the surrounding snow-capped volcanoes (Yip, 1). More significantly, however, Mexico City’s air problems have resulted in a notable decrease in the health of its residents, particularly its children. There are a variety of reasons for the decline in air quality, including factory emissions, suspended particles, vehicles, as well as problematic geographic hindrances. Fortunately, Mexico City is doing a lot in response to the problem, including vehicle control, mass transit improvements, required industry emission reductions, and an investing in research and education programs. Regardless of these actions, however, Mexico City’s air is still significantly affecting the quality of life for its residents, and the city must continue to make changes in order for real progress to occur.
The polluted air we breathe everyday can cause serious health problems to us or even death. The short term effects of breathing polluted air are headaches, nausea, and allergic reactions. Short term effects can also aggravate the medical conditions of individuals with asthma and emphysema. The long term effects, which are more serious and deadly are, lung cancer, chronic respiratory disease, heart disease, and damage to the brain, nerves, liver, and kidneys. Air pollution also has a bad effect on women who are pregnant. Research has shown that women who come in contact with high levels of pollution, are more likely to have a premature or early baby (David Anderson). Now, women who protect themselves more from all the pollution are more likely to have a healthier baby. Another research also shows that air pollution kills about 3.3 million people every year. The study also proves that if we continue to pollute our air the way we 're doing it right now, the yearly deaths will double to 6.6 million people in 2050 (David Anderson). About 6 percent of global deaths each year are caused by air pollution. Scientists also say that air pollution kills more than both HIV and malaria each year, which I find pretty
Withgott, J., & Laposata, M. (2012). Essential environment: The science behind the stories. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
There are many kinds of air pollution. The ones I want to talk about are the ozone, acid rain, carbon monoxide and toxic air contaminants. Ozone is formed when hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxide react in sunlight. Therefore, ozone is at its peak during hot summer days. Exposure to high levels of ozone can have serious consequences on your health. It can cause respiratory disease, loss of pulmonary elasticity, and premature aging of our lungs. Next, is acid rain, which occurs in the atmosphere in the form of sulfur and nitrogen oxide. These pollutants can have serious damaging affects on aquatic, forest and wildlife ecosystems, as well as deterioration of buildings. Carbon monoxide is another form of pollution. It reduces the blood?s ability to carry oxygen. If a human is exposed to higher levels, it can cause chest pains, angina attacks or even death.
The year was 1992; a cold December arctic wind had brought a chance of snow to the area. It was the weekend and time to relax after a long hard week at work. The weather service had predicted several inches of snow to blanket the region by the next day. Not to worry: it was the weekend and traveling was not a necessity.