Discourse for all interested in all things air-quality related
In the United States, where transportation and land use are concerned, it seems like we’ve come such a long way. But, have we really? While it is true that there have been tremendous advancements made in the transportation field – call these leaps-and-bounds gains, in the area of land use, while there has been much … Read more
The below Jul. 16, 2019 press release from the Union of Concerned Scientists. Increases in potentially lethal heat driven by climate change will affect every state in the contiguous U.S. in the decades ahead, according to a new report and accompanying peer-reviewed study in Environmental Research Communications, both by the Union of Concerned Scientists, released … Read more
Today there’s automobility. What’s next (on the land-transportation-operations horizon), full autonomobility, that is, driverless control? On the surface, that notion sounds quite oxymoronic. At any rate, we’ll just have to wait and see. When the Hawaii Area Rapid Transit’s HART light rail system comes online, that time projected to be a little more than a … Read more
Wildland fires last year proved to be disastrous for California in terms of not only the amount of acreage charred and the number of lives impacted but of the associated monetary cost as it has to do with property loss. It has been suggested that because of global warming, the state has become more susceptible … Read more
So, I wanted to know just how useful are the various tools available to the public for assessing the air quality condition where I reside – in California’s expansive San Joaquin Valley. The region is ranked worst in the nation for fine particulate matter pollutant emissions and the nation’s second worst for ozone, the two … Read more
It has been the long-held dream of many an ordinary citizen I’m sure, to add space travel to their bucket lists. Well, that reality, made possible for those inclined enough to venture beyond the wild blue yonder, may be just around the corner. All well and good, except for one minor detail: The introduction of … Read more
I just recently read – somewhere – America’s air has worsened, in fact, there is 15 percent more pollution in it (I am assuming volumetric-wise), than there was, say, just a few years back. That’s not a good sign. After years, even decades, of encouraging air trends, to some, this news may come as a … Read more
Today’s is the follow-on article to “Want to know if climate change is real? For answers, just look to the Valley.” Climate change has undoubtedly left its imprint on California’s San Joaquin Valley. Though I do not know first-hand the full extent of climate-change-related circumstances elsewhere, I do, however, have direct knowledge (through observation) of … Read more
Week-in and week-out on weekends, I watch televised broadcasts of golf matches almost religiously, that is, unless there is something else going on that takes precedence. I don’t miss a beat, meaning I watch these televised golf matches to the exclusion of all other broadcast sports, which on weekends, seem to flood the channels. Golf’s … Read more
With a population of 40 million people and growing, and major road-based transportation-corridor traffic often at a standstill, the prospect of riding a 220-mile-per-hour bullet train across much of the state, sounds extremely appealing. Though the question remains, is this the train Californians will get? One day, hopefully, it is! Object of deserved or unfair … Read more