Discourse for all interested in all things air-quality related
There is something about spring. Of course there’s the “April-showers-bringing-May-flowers” bit. Then, of course, there’s the other part: renewal. For many, there’s the “spring-cleaning” ritual. Bite my tongue, right? Spring is, well, when you get right down to it, my favorite time of the year. Cool temperatures, windy days, bloomin’ flora – plants punctuated by … Read more
“The science is clear: breathing polluted air increases the risk of debilitating and deadly diseases such as lung cancer, stroke, heart disease, and chronic bronchitis. Air pollution is now the world’s fourth-leading fatal health risk, causing one in ten deaths in 2013.”1 Air in California, America’s 31st state, is under repetitious attack via a hail … Read more
In case you are not aware, the city of Fresno in California’s interior Central Valley, a metropolis whose residents number a half-million and who breathe some of the poorest quality air in the United States, has four major transportation projects going on simultaneously. These are: The Q: A 15.7-mile bus rapid transit install Midtown Trail: … Read more
The below in its totality was originally published by Jayant Kairam on the Environmental Defense Fund’s Energy Exchange blog.1 The late California historian Kevin Starr once wrote, “California had long since become one of the prisms through which the American people, for better and for worse, could glimpse their future.” These words have never felt … Read more
Many large cities today are bloated. Many smaller ones are too. Before forging ahead farther, it is important at this juncture to be clear on what delineates cities. One way cities are categorized is according to population size. Large cities: metros with population densities of from 500 thousand-plus to 10 million. Medium cities: metros with … Read more
Ozone exceedances in the San Joaquin Valley in California’s interior, preliminarily speaking, in 2016 numbered 88. This is six exceedances more than the year before. 2015’s numbers are preliminary also. The ozone season in the Valley roughly lasts from March through October. So, why the increase? Keep in mind that a big part of the … Read more
Imagine residing in an area where more than a quarter of one’s days in a given year, are spent breathing smog. And, it’s not only the smog that’s at issue: it is the degree or level of smog, or rather, ozone that is in air and in the South Coast Air Basin of California on … Read more
Watts up The world’s power requirement is enormous. Natural resources like oil, coal and natural gas, the chief fossil fuels relied upon as drivers to facilitate the generation of electricity and heat, is in finite supply; they won’t last forever. And, there are negative environmental effects from their use. Yet they are being relied upon … Read more
Crossroads Every four years the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) releases an infrastructure report card. It covers dams and bridges, roadways, railways: If it is infrastructure related, it’s probably covered. In 2013 when the report hit the streets (the last such report released), roadways had only earned a grade of “D,” a slight improvement … Read more
When the Air Quality Matters blog first was started – Nov. 5, 2012, President Barack Obama had just completed his very first term in office and was ready to embark on his second. Meanwhile, the country at this juncture had emerged – and I would add glowingly and stalwartly – from what has since become … Read more