Published: Monday, October 25, 2010, 6 H 15
The season closes, ozone Birmingham area appears on track to meet all standards currently in force federal air quality.
This will be the first time since 1990 that Birmingham air was clean enough to meet the standards established by the environmental protection agency even if current standards are tougher they were then.
"Since the advent of sanitation Act air in Birmingham air quality has greatly improved," said Jefferson County Health Department meteorologist Matt Lacke.
However, at the end of this month, the United States EPA should emit a more stringent standard for ozone pollution. If the standard is located in the previously proposed range, air in the Birmingham area will not meet new standards. In addition, stricter standards for particulate pollution are expected next year and the region will endeavour to meet them.
Adam Synder, Director Executive Group environmental conservation in Alabama, said the region has made progress, but the challenges are about to start a new.
"It will require more efforts throughout the world in the region to meet the new standards of achievement when they go into effect", he said. "If we should be proud of what we've accomplished as a community."But we will not have much time to celebrate and we will not have much time to rest on our laurels.
"The fact that we are on the right edge shows that we have much work to faire.Nous monies through the skin of our teeth", he said.
More stringent standards for consideration by the stem of advances in scientific understanding of the effects of air pollution and are defined on the advice of an independent scientific Advisory Committee to examine the clinical and epidemiological studies and the results of the research.
UAB lung biologist Edward Postlethwait, who chairs the Department of environmental health in the school of public health of the UAB, said scientists continue to refine their understanding of pollution harm. ""As science gets better we are able to detect effects on health of bad air," he said. "Early exposure lifecycle may have the potential to cause health effects at long terme.Il can predispose children developing asthma later in life or infections of the respiratory tract," said Postlethwait.
Air pollution also aggravate pre-existing diseases such as asthma and cystic fibrosis.
"I think that we know more about the widespread systemic health air pollutants can cause we have 10-15 years ago," he said.
This summer, the Birmingham region had 12 alert days ozone that air quality has increased to potentially harmful to sensitive groups levels.Which is to last summer, when cooler temperatures and frequent rains kept polluants.Alertes air quality new ozone were issued in 2009.
Summer marked the second summer right there is no day of particulate pollution alerts.
Two years are below historical levels.In 2008, for example, it y 13 days orange alerts and one day red alert.
Federal standards are inspired by mean rolling three-year pollution measures.Lacke said that the three year average to smooth out the peaks and valleys of pollution levels.
Pollution levels varies with time .Lorsqu ' it is warmer and drier, ozone is most likely forme.Et without rain, the particles are more likely to remain suspended in the air rather than washed out.
Quality varies
Quality of the air tends to vary in Birmingham, with various sectors with différents.Lectures particle pollution problems have been consistently higher in the areas of industry such as North Birmingham, neighbourhoods while the Hoover and Helena air screens recorded the highest levels of ozone pollution.
It also tends to vary with the journée.Sur time several days in recent weeks, a meteorological phenomenon known as an inversion layer has formed over the ville.Avec place inversion layer, pollution is more bomb near the ground, causing problems of air quality.
Fluctuations also occur with the .Au economy during an economic slowdown, factories to reduce production, and which leads to a decrease in pollution émise.Demande power also can reduce, which leads to the reduction of emissions of the biggest sources of pollution in the region, three coal-fired power plants.
Traffic is also greatly contributed to the ozone pollution.
This summer, Alabama Power enabled new scrubbers that reduce the amount of pollution emitted by its stations .the particle ' utility is on the end of a project which total over $ 3 billion in expenditures since 1999 on the reduction of pollution in its 1996-2009 usines.De Alabama Power controls has reduced its 76% nitrogen oxide and 44 percent, sulfur dioxide emissions standards.the company ' nitrogen oxide is an ingredient in ozone pollution whereas sulphur dioxide can form particles pollution.
"This is a question of the scale of the community, and we all play a role," said spokesman Michael Sznajderman.a? society
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