Discourse for all interested in all things air-quality related
Bluer skies, greener grass One thing we humans can’t seem to divorce ourselves from is waste. It would be nice if we could. And that there is waste, there must be places to put it. The air shouldn’t be one of those, yet, it is, unfortunately. To lessen waste’s impact, there could be less of … Read more
On matters of air quality, it has been an interesting year and in a few ways a bewildering one too. By far this year’s big story is the toll on health polluted air has taken. And perhaps the biggest revelation connected with this is that air pollution is now on the world’s top-10-killers list and … Read more
Air Quality Matters blog was introduced on Nov. 5, 2012 with: “Smog more than an eyesore – it’s a wake-up call,” the focus of which was San Joaquin Valley, California, air pollution – and, most notably, smog. One poignant comment I made was: “Why the discoloration in the air isn’t more alarming to more people … Read more
We just got through a cold snap. Where I live, the overnight temperatures dipped down into the mid-to-upper 20s. Daytime highs, meanwhile, were in the 50s and, on some days, the 60s even. Next week, however, it’s a different story: daytime temps are expected to reach 70 degrees and this is for mid-December?! As temperatures … Read more
In all of my live-long days I have never heard a diesel locomotive described – for all practical purposes – as a black-soot-belching volcano; that is, not before today. But, seriously. If the majority of diesel locomotives contribute a fair amount of locomotive-engine-sourced pollution released into the atmosphere then I could definitely understand why efforts aimed at “greening” diesel … Read more
Back on Jan. 17th in “CATS: Diesel-electric versus pure electric train operations – pros and cons,” I wrote: “I was born in the age of the diesel loco. Steam as locomotive propulsion power, although reaching a zenith right around World War II, quite interestingly, maintains a presence, albeit a shadow of its former self by … Read more
I keep hearing or reading where San Joaquin Valley, California business owners have paid billions of dollars over the years to reduce their contribution to air pollution by as much as 80 percent. Directly related to this businesses, since the 1980s, are credited by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (SJVAPCD or Valley Air District) … Read more
The California Environmental Protection Agency Air Resources Board (ARB) in “Fact Sheet: California’s Plan to Reduce Diesel Particulate Matter Emissions,” notes, “In 1998, California identified diesel particulate matter (diesel PM) as a toxic air contaminant based on its potential to cause cancer and other adverse health effects.” Added ARB in 2004: “Each year in California, … Read more
I can say with a high degree of confidence that when air pollution is viewed as a serious enough problem (taken here to mean that such is viewed by the vast majority of people to be a serious health threat and one of considerable concern) and/or the issue becomes important enough to enough people, then … Read more
With an estimated 250 million motor vehicles plying American roadways daily, I can’t help but think of all of the gasoline being consumed yearly. Using an annual average per-capita vehicle miles traveled rate of 9,363 and an arbitrary average vehicle-miles-per-gallon rating of 17, in doing the math, that works out to the burning by each vehicle … Read more