Dear EarthTalk: I was appalled by the pollution haze I saw on a recent visit to Acadia National Park in Maine, and was told by a ranger that it was from smokestacks and tailpipes hundreds of miles away. Is anything being done to clear the air in Acadia and other natural areas where people go to breathe fresh air and enjoy distant unobstructed views?- Betty Estason, via e-mail
Pollution haze in some of our national parks, which emanates from urban and industrial centers sometimes hundreds of miles away, has been a problem for decades despite a 1977 Congressional order calling for these areas to be free of the unhealthy air plaguing cities.
Credit: iStockPhoto
Pictured: haze pollution in Acadia National Park, Maine
This pollution haze, which emanates from urban and industrial centers to the south and west, has been a problem at Acadia National Park and elsewhere (e.g. Great Smoky Mountains, Shenandoah and Voyageurs national parks) for decades despite a 1977 Congressional dictum calling for the nation’s greatest natural treasures—known as “Class 1” areas—to be free of the unhealthy air plaguing cities. The haze is caused when tiny pollution particles absorb and/or scatter sunlight before it reaches the ground, reducing the clarity of what we see. According to the National Park Service (NPS), which is working with other agencies and state governments to help remedy the situation, “Some types of particles, such as sulfates, scatter more light than others, particularly during humid conditions,” reports the NPS.
Of course, the pollution in the air causing the haze is also not good for our health or the environment. “Exposure to very small particles in the air has been linked with increased respiratory illness, decreased lung function, and even premature death,” reports the NPS. Also, the most common particles, nitrates and sulfates, contribute to acid rain, which renders some water bodies unsuitable to support aquatic life.
Analysts with the Mid-Atlantic/North East Visibility Union (MANE-VU), a regional planning agency with representation from all Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states as well as two tribes and four federal agencies, calculated that 100 miles in visibility should be the norm throughout these regions but that 40-60 mile visibility is typical today because of pollution. They also warn that haze can reduce visibility to just a few miles at times. The fact that these problems exist in natural areas hundreds of miles from the sources of pollution is particularly troubling to environmentalists, park visitors and seekers of fresh air.
In November 2011 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) agreed to finalize requirements for states to create haze pollution clean-up plans—those first called for in 1977. These plans will require the worst polluters to install “Best Available Retrofit Technology” (BART) to clean up particulate pollution.
But a recently proposed addendum would allow 28 eastern U.S. states to avoid direct compliance, since they are already required to cut emissions through the Cross State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR). “While the emission trading program created by CSAPR will result in significant air quality benefits for many eastern states, it will not require some of the most egregious polluters of iconic Class I national landscapes to clean up their pollution to the same level that would be required under BART,” reports the National Parks Conservation Association, which would like to see EPA drop its proposed BART rule exemption.
Readers can do their part by using less energy and making sure some of the power offered by their utilities comes from renewable sources. And stay away from haze-prone locales on humid days when conditions are ripest for the formation of particulate pollution and the negative health effects that can come with it.
CONTACTS: EPA, www.epa.gov/region1/topics/pollutants/haze.html; MANE-VU, www.otcair.org/manevu; National Parks Conservation Association, www.npca.org
Of course, the pollution in the air causing the haze is also not good for our health or the environment. “Exposure to very small particles in the air has been linked with increased respiratory illness, decreased lung function, and even premature death,” reports the NPS. Also, the most common particles, nitrates and sulfates, contribute to acid rain, which renders some water bodies unsuitable to support aquatic life.
Analysts with the Mid-Atlantic/North East Visibility Union (MANE-VU), a regional planning agency with representation from all Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states as well as two tribes and four federal agencies, calculated that 100 miles in visibility should be the norm throughout these regions but that 40-60 mile visibility is typical today because of pollution. They also warn that haze can reduce visibility to just a few miles at times. The fact that these problems exist in natural areas hundreds of miles from the sources of pollution is particularly troubling to environmentalists, park visitors and seekers of fresh air.
In November 2011 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) agreed to finalize requirements for states to create haze pollution clean-up plans—those first called for in 1977. These plans will require the worst polluters to install “Best Available Retrofit Technology” (BART) to clean up particulate pollution.
But a recently proposed addendum would allow 28 eastern U.S. states to avoid direct compliance, since they are already required to cut emissions through the Cross State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR). “While the emission trading program created by CSAPR will result in significant air quality benefits for many eastern states, it will not require some of the most egregious polluters of iconic Class I national landscapes to clean up their pollution to the same level that would be required under BART,” reports the National Parks Conservation Association, which would like to see EPA drop its proposed BART rule exemption.
Readers can do their part by using less energy and making sure some of the power offered by their utilities comes from renewable sources. And stay away from haze-prone locales on humid days when conditions are ripest for the formation of particulate pollution and the negative health effects that can come with it.
CONTACTS: EPA, www.epa.gov/region1/topics/pollutants/haze.html; MANE-VU, www.otcair.org/manevu; National Parks Conservation Association, www.npca.org
In Spanish:
Querido DiálogoEcológico: Me horrorizó ver la neblina de contaminación que vi en una visita reciente al Parque Nacional Acadia en Maine, y me dijo un guardabosques que esto se debía a causa de chimeneas y tubos de escape a cientos de millas de distancia. ¿Se está haciendo algo para limpiar el aire en Acadia y otras áreas naturales donde la gente va a respirar aire fresco y disfrutar de vistas espectaculares? - Betty Estason, por correo electrónico
La polución de neblina en algunos de nuestros parques nacionales, que emana de centros urbanos e industriales a veces a cientos de kilómetros de distancia, ha sido un problema por décadas a pesar de una orden congresional de 1977 demandando que estas áreas estén libres del aire malsano que plaga las ciudades.
Imagen: Polución de neblina en el Parque Nacional Acadia, Maine.
Esta neblina de contaminación, que proviene de zonas urbanas e industriales al sur y el oeste, ha sido un problema en el Parque Nacional de Acadia y en otras partes (Great Smoky Mountains, Shenandoah y parques nacionales Voyageurs) por décadas a pesar de un dictamen Congresional de 1977 ordenando que los tesoros naturales más grandes de la nación—conocidos como "Areas Clase 1”—no sean afectados por el aire poco sano que plaga las ciudades. La neblina se origina cuando partículas diminutas de contaminación absorben y/o dispersan la luz solar antes que llegue al suelo, reduciendo la claridad de lo que vemos. Según el Servicio Nacional de Parques (NPS), que trabaja con otras agencias y gobiernos estatales para ayudar a remediar la situación, "Algunos tipos de partículas, como los sulfatos, se dispersan más rápido que otros, especialmente durante condiciones húmedas," indica el NPS.
Por supuesto, la contaminación del aire que causa la neblina también no es buena para nuestra salud ni el ambiente. "Exposición a partículas muy pequeñas en el aire ha sido ligada a un aumento en enfermedades respiratorias, función pulmonar disminuida, e incluso a la muerte prematura," reporta el NPS. También, las partículas más comunes, los nitratos y los sulfatos, contribuyen a la lluvia ácida, que convierte algunos cuerpos de agua en zonas inhóspitas para apoyar la vida acuática.
Los analistas con el Mid-Atlantic/North East Visibility Union (MANE-VU) [Unión de Visibilidad del Medio Atlantico y Noreste]
una agencia de planificación regional con representación de todos los estados del noreste y medio Atlántico norteamericanos, así como dos tribus y cuatro agencias federales, calcularon que 160 km de visibilidad debería ser la norma a través de estas regiones pero que 64-96 km de visibilidad es hoy típico a causa de la polución. Ellos también advierten que la neblina puede reducir a veces la visibilidad a sólo unas millas. El hecho que estos problemas existen en áreas naturales cientos de millas de distancia de las fuentes de contaminación molesta especialmente a los ecologistas, visitantes de parques y buscadores de aire fresco.
En noviembre 2011 la Agencia de Protección del Medio Ambiente de EEUU (EPA) aceptó completar requisitos para estados para crear planes de limpieza de contaminación de neblina—primero mencionados en 1977. Estos planes requerirán que los peores contaminadores instalen tecnologías de "Mejor Tecnología Disponible de Modernización" (BART, por sus siglas en inglés) para limpiar la polución particulada.
Pero un apéndice recientemente propuesto permitiría a 28 estados orientales de EEUU evitar implementación directa, ya que ellos ya están obligados a reducir emisiones según la Regla Interestatal de Contaminación Atmosférica (CSAPR, por sus siglas en inglés). "Aunque el programa de intercambio de emisiones creado por CSAPR tendrá como resultado beneficios significativos en la calidad del aire en muchos estados orientales, no requerirá que algunos de los contaminadores más atroces de paisajes nacionales de la Clase icónica 1 limpien su contaminación al mismo grado que sería requerido bajo el reglamento BART," afirma la Asociación Nacional de Conservación de Parques, que querría ver a EPA cancelar su exención propuesta a la regla BART.
Los lectores pueden hacer su parte al utilizar menos electricidad y asegurarse que parte de la energía ofrecida por sus empresas de electricidad provenga de fuentes renovables. Y manténganse lejos de lugares que tienen propensión a la neblina en días húmedos cuando las condiciones son óptimas para la formación de contaminación particulada y sus efectos negativos de salud.
CONTACTOS: EPA, www.epa.gov/region1/topics/pollutants/haze.html; MANE-VU,www.otcair.org/manevu; National Parks Conservation Association, www.npca.org.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario