Road Map: Nov' 16

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Road Map Nov. 16
2 weeks
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Central London during the killer smog, December
1952. At this point, visibility is less than 30
feet. During the height of the smog, people could
not see their own hands or feet, and buses had to
be led by policemen walking with flares.Credit
'When Smoke Ran Like Water', by Devra Davis,
Perseus Books
"Night at Noon." London's Piccadilly Circus at
midday, during a deadly smog episode, this time
in the winter of 1955.Credit 'When Smoke Ran
Like Water', by Devra Davis, Perseus Books
Research by Rutgers University's Paul Lioy and
others shows that as the amount of smoke and
pollutants in the air shot up during the week of
Dec. 5, 1952, so did the death rate in greater
London. Estimates say the smog killed anywhere
from 4,000 to 11,000 people. Credit Paul Lioy,
Rutgers University
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Smog Kills
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BEIJING
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The China Syndrome and the Environmental Kuznets
Curve
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The Kuznets curve.
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Air Pollution lecture highlights

• What chemicals contribute to air pollution?
• In what ways are both excess and insufficient
  ozone bad?
• How does geography and sunlight make pollution
  problems worse?
• How is the air in CA? What are the problem areas?
• What is happening to the ozone hole? Getting
  larger, smaller?

• How do cars pollute the atmosphere? How have cars
  improved over the past 20? years? If cars have
  improved, then why is the air not cleaner?
• What are the human health consequences of air
  pollution?
• Is there a common signature of (air) pollution
  with economic development?
• How did the US manage to get a handle on air
  pollution?

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The Atmosphere
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Our problem

• We are intimately connected to air
• About the area of a tennis court
• Lung is 100 m2 and 0.01 m3
• 8 liters air/ minute
• 11,500 liters/day

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A brief list of culprits in air pollution

• SO2
• Coal burning power,
• Industrial production
• Northeast
• NOX
• Automobiles
• Others
• CO carbon monoxide
• Lead
• Mercury

• PM10
• Agriculture
• Automobiles
• VOC
• (Volatile organic compounds, eg, benzene)
• Industry

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SMOG a legacy of the Industrial Revolution

• smog 1st used in 1905 at a health conference
• December 1930, Meuse Valley, Belgium
• 63 people died
• Oct 26-31, 1944 Donora PA
• 20 dead, 7000 (50 of town) ill
• Dec 4-10, 1952 3000 Londoners died from smog
• Three other events between 1948 and 1956

• Coketown lay shrouded in a haze of its own,
  which appeared impervious to the suns rays. You
  only knew the town was there because there could
  be no such sulky blotch upon the prospect without
  a town C. Dickens, Hard Times

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Good News U.S. Trends
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Air getting better despite lots of factors that
increase the difficulty to improve
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Does California struggle with air quality?
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Atmospheric Problems

• The bottom line
• Air quality, on many fronts, is getting better.
• Air quality is not improving everywhere, or with
  respect to all pollutants. Lots left to be done.
• Air pollution SOx, NOx, O3, VOC, Particulates.
• Gray smog / Brown smog
• Ozone layer O3 Protects us from UVB radiation,
• Thinnest and most susceptible over poles.
• Chlorofluorocarbons Cl (chlorine reacts in
  sunlight with O3)
• Another problem that is getting better.
• Global warming
• earth is warming
• CO2 traps heat CO2 is increasing.
• The two are very likely to be connected.
• The consequences are likely to be large for some
  people.
• Not improving

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SMOG comes in different flavors

• Brown smog (NOx)
• Photo-activated chemical reactions
• Gray smog (SO2)
• Industrial smog
• Natural smogs
• Dust storms
• Smoke from fire
• Most cities exhibit combinations of each

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The big difference between gray and brown smog
SOURCE
London Gray Smog
LA Brown Smog
Coal burning power plants
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Gray vs Brown Smog
Sulfur dioxide
Nitrogen Oxides
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Brown Smog
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Why is smog not a simple function of industrial
output?
Production of smog forming chemicals is
approximately constant. Air mixing attributes
changes the impact of the smog. Some cities are
plagued by poorer air mixing than others.
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Hence, Fairbanks, but not Anchorage, Duluth but
not Dubuque, Tucson but not Tallahassee
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Auto Emissions Progress report
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Automobile Emission Control System
Point source pollution control the tailpipe.
How do we do this? Cars, boat motors,
motorcycles, trucks, lawnmowers, leafblowers
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PARTICULATES
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Particulates can cause irritation at many points

• Constriction of the bronchi
• Filling of alveoli with mucus
• Permanent damage to alveoli

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One way to view effects of air pollution
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Remember

• We are intimately connected to air
• About the area of a single tennis court
• Lung is 100 m2 and 0.01 m3
• 8 liters air/ minute
• 11,500 liters/day
• A 10 x 10 x 10 ft room

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Health costs

• 150 million Americans are exposed to unhealthy
  air
• It is estimated that air pollution costs 50
  billion/year in medical expenses
• Kilburn 1984
• Children raised in the South Coast Air Basin
  suffer a 10 to 15 decrease in lung function
  compared to children who grow up where the air is
  less polluted..
• Hall. 1989.
• Meeting federal clean air standards for ozone and
  fine particulates in the South Coast region would
  provide 9.4 billion in health-related benefits
  each year.
• 98 of the four-county basin's population of 13
  million is exposed to unhealthful air, with
  children especially vulnerable.

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ACID RAIN
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ACIDS BASES
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Ecosystem damage caused by sulfur
dioxide emissions and acid rain.
Sudbury, Ont
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Acid Precipitation, 2005
Why does the east have such a problem with acid
rain?
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Air Pollution Control

• Early approach Dilution is the solution to
  pollution
• Particulate removal - air filters
• Sulfur removal - scrubbers
• Nitrogen oxide reduction - catalytic converters
• Hydrocarbon controls - afterburners

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Effects of Acid Rain

• Decreased soil and water pH
• Increased fish mortality
• Partially due to aluminum toxicity brought on by
  acidity
• Increased tree mortality
• Decreased leaf longevity
• Increased disease damage
• Increased soil nutrient leaching

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Ozone and acid rain on forest health Sierra
forests under stress
OZONE
Sierra Nevada
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OZONE damage

• Damages photosynthetic apparatus in plants and
  results in increased tree mortality
• Measurable increased tree mortality in California
  is linked to sites with high ozone transport
  values

Good Ozone / Bad Ozone O3
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Where we are in California?
CA is divided into air basins by the Air
Resources Board (ARB)
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We vigorously sample air quality
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PM10 are decreasing in most places
(ARB)
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The worst places in CA for particulates
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The heat of summer is the worst
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Various standards
Still an amazing number of days where CA is out
of compliance
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