Discourse for all interested in all things air-quality related
Vital signs – Temperature check: Never before did I even think that this planet of ours would be affected by the three simultaneous threats of global warming, air pollution and COVID-19, any one of these having the potential to be totally devastating. In my lifetime the world has warmed – no question. How much hotter? … Read more
The seven days beginning June 27, 2021 will, hopefully, long be remembered as the week the American West suffered some of the worst heat and heat-related affects. Scores of high-temperature-related deaths not the least among them. Under seemingly unrelenting high-pressure domes, in major metropolitan centers like Portland in Oregon and Seattle and Spokane in Washington, … Read more
At its most utilized point in 1916, route-miles of common-carrier railroad track numbered 254,000. Today, that figure has been whittled away quite a bit – 140,000 or a reduction of 44.88 percent. Imagine what it would be like in the current operating environment for railroads to move the same amount of tonnage they did 105 … Read more
Air flow: The circulation or movement of air. That’s what we’re talking about. But, it’s more than just that. There is also air-quality impact. These topics and more is what’s on the roundtable. Where air flows Make no mistake: With some of the hottest temperatures being experienced lately, the tendency is for households and businesses … Read more
The initial reaction to the news of the SARS CoV-2 COVID-19 outbreak was, in a word, predictable: There was immense fear and loathing. Throw in panic too. Like reaction, coronavirus response also was mixed. Response to the pandemic was all over the place, in fact. It ran the gamut. Everything from intense impulse-buying among consumers … Read more
Vegetable growers building their soils and boosting yields may consider a side gig in carbon farming. The idea of carbon farming has been floated for years as a way to reclaim carbon emissions in the atmosphere. But it’s not just talking – today, some private firms do offer payments for farm projects that promise to … Read more
When soil gets saturated with water, the ground can produce nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas that depletes the ozone, that layer that protects plants and animals on Earth from harmful ultraviolet light. For context, nitrous oxide is 310 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, another greenhouse gas that’s harmful to the ozone layer. That’s why … Read more
Transportation can no longer be thought of as an entity unto itself – in a vacuum, in other words. It must be considered within the context of mobility, and, beyond that, environmental-friendliness or impact, and, even bigger, land-use impacts. Planning today should reflect this and take this into account. In the United States, no new … Read more
Turns out ride sharing as an eco-friendly transportation alternative may not be all it was once cracked up to be. In addition, new research suggests that compared to private-passenger-vehicle- or taxi-use, ride-sharing, in the area of environmental-friendliness, may not be – to use an idiomatic expression – up to speed. Some reading this may be … Read more
In my previous post “Earth Day 2021: Transformations,” as the title suggests, the message is all about change. There is perhaps no one area where change is more apparent than in that of broadcast journalism. The change I’m referring to – broadcasting done digitally or cybernetically – grew out of a perceived or the real … Read more