Latest Smog Stories
Residents, Businesses Encouraged to Reduce Air Pollution HARRISBURG, Pa., March 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Department of Environmental Protection and its regional air quality partnerships have forecast an air quality action day for Tuesday, March 9, and Wednesday, March 10, in the Liberty/Clairton region of Allegheny County. The Liberty/Clairton region includes Clairton, Glassport, Liberty, Lincoln and Port Vue boroughs. The air quality forecast predicts Tuesday and Wednesday will be...
California's dirty air caused more than $193 million in hospital-based medical care from 2005 to 2007 as people sought help for problems such as asthma and pneumonia that are triggered by elevated pollution levels, according to a new RAND Corporation study.Researchers estimate that exposure to excessive levels of ozone and particulate pollution caused nearly 30,000 emergency room visits and hospital admissions over the study period. Public insurance programs were responsible for most of the...
EDF Testifies 20 Million+ Residents in South Coast, San Joaquin Valley Would Benefit SACRAMENTO, Calif., Feb. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Environmental Defense Fund testified today that strengthening the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone pollution from 75 to 60 parts per billion (ppb) would reduce premature death rates by 60-fold and reduce asthma cases 50-fold, according to analyses by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The testimony is being given at an EPA...
Stronger Standards will Help Reduce Asthma Attacks, Hospitalizations and premature deaths SACRAMENTO, Calif., Feb. 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Lung Association, Breathe California, Coalition for Clean Air, Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club will hold a joint press conference in support of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposal to strengthen the national limits for ozone "smog" pollution. The organizations are calling on the EPA to enact the most...
Emissions to be Cut by more than 75,000 Tons Annually WASHINGTON, Jan. 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Westar Energy has agreed to spend approximately $500 million to significantly reduce harmful air pollution from a Kansas power plant and pay a $3 million civil penalty, under a settlement to resolve violations of the Clean Air Act, the Justice Department and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today. As part of the settlement, Westar will also spend $6 million on...
WILKES-BARRE, Pa., Jan. 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Department of Environmental Protection has joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in a settlement with Lafarge of North America for air quality violations at its cement manufacturing plants in 12 states, including one in Whitehall Township, Lehigh County. EPA fined the company $5 million for violations stemming from the conversion of low-sulfur coal to a mixture of coal and high-sulfur petroleum coke as part of its...
Pollution from Asia is causing ozone levels to rise above the western United States, an increase that could make it more difficult for the U.S. to meet Clean Air Act standards for ozone pollution at ground level, according to an international study published on Wednesday. The study, published in the journal Nature, analyzed large sets of ozone data captured since 1984. It focused primarily on data for ozone in springtime above western North America at an altitude of between two and five...
Residents, Businesses Encouraged to Reduce Air Pollution HARRISBURG, Pa., Jan. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Department of Environmental Protection and its regional air quality partnerships have forecast an air quality action day for Saturday, Jan. 16, in the Liberty/Clairton, Susquehanna Valley, and Lehigh Valley/Berks regions. The Liberty/Clairton region in southeastern Allegheny County includes Clairton, Glassport, Liberty, Lincoln and Port Vue boroughs. The Susquehanna Valley region...
Residents, Businesses Encouraged to Reduce Air Pollution HARRISBURG, Pa., Jan. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Department of Environmental Protection and its regional air quality partnerships have forecast an air quality action day for Friday, Jan. 15, in the Liberty/Clairton region in southeastern Allegheny County, which includes Clairton, Glassport, Liberty, Lincoln and Port Vue boroughs. The air quality forecast predicts Friday will be code ORANGE for particulate matter. The U.S....
Some parts of the country that haven't had to deal with air pollution and smog, like California has over the past, may soon have to worry about it as well. Tougher standards proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday will determine how much smog will be tolerated in the air. The new standards would save money and protect the health of our citizens, especially children. In a statement made by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, she said the "EPA is stepping up to protect Americans...
Latest Smog Reference Libraries
Acid rain is any form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that is possesses high levels of hydrogen ions. It can have harmful effects on aquatic animals, plants, and infrastructure. Acid rain is caused by emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, which react with the water molecules within the atmosphere to produce acids. Nitrogen oxides can be produced naturally by lightening strikes. Sulfur dioxide can be produced naturally by volcanic eruptions. The chemicals that are...
Arctic haze is a phenomenon that occurs in the atmosphere at high latitudes in the Arctic due to air pollution. What distinguishes Arctic haze from haze found elsewhere, is the ability of its chemical ingredients to endure in the atmosphere for a longer period of time compared to other pollutants. Due to limited snowfall, rain, or turbulent air to displace pollutants from the polar air in the spring, Arctic haze can continue for more than a month in the northern atmosphere. Arctic haze...
Haze is a type of atmospheric phenomenon where dust, smoke and dry particles in the air obscure the sky's clarity. Haze is created through various activities including farming, traffic pollution,and even wildfires. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) categorizes the obscuration of the Earth's atmosphere by a list of different types of atmospheric phenomena. One of these is haze. The other classifications are: fog, ice fog, steam fog, mist, smoke, volcanic ash, dust, sand, and snow....
