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Air Quality
If you are living in the eastern United States, the environment around you is being harmed by air pollution. That is the conclusion of a recent report entitled "Threats From Above: Air Pollution Impacts on Ecosystems and Biological Diversity in the Eastern United States". The report was co-developed by the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies and the Nature Conservancy. More than 32 scientists contributed to the report.
Which Pollutants Were Examined In This Report?
Four pollutants were assessed:
- sulfur,
- nitrogen,
- mercury, and
- ground-level ozone
The report cites several major contributors to these emissions, smokestacks, tailpipes, and agricultural operations and examines the interactions between in addition to the individual impacts of these pollutants.
What Goes Up Must Come Down
While initially airborne, these pollutants are eventually re-deposited to the landscape. Airborne emissions can travel hundreds of miles before making their way back to the ground. Because of common weather and air patterns, these can become concentrated in certain landscapes and have substantial impacts.
What Do the Report Authors Recommend?
Current air quality standards in the U.S. are developed by assessing direct impacts to human health. The regulations typically restrict emission levels, the amount released by a pollution source. Regulations have not considered where airborne pollutants are re-deposited in the landscape or the impacts to soil and water resources and resident plants and animals.
The report authors recommend that policymakers establish air quality standards based on critical loads (the maximum level of deposited pollution that ecosystems can tolerate before harmful effects occur). Once these critical loads are established, pollutants can be regulated in a way that preserves functioning ecosystems. In some areas, such as Rocky Mountain National Park, federal agencies have already adopted this approach to evaluate the threat from air pollution.
Renewed investment in monitoring programs for air pollution and the ecosystems is also a major recommendation. The report notes that some good pollution monitoring programs exist, but that they are fragmented and serious gaps still exist.
For More Information
View the report at http://www.ecostudies.org/Threats_from_Above.pdf.
Other Newsletter Stories From July, 2008
September Webcast To Cover Hydrogen Sulfide
Research Summaries Now Available on LPE Learning Center Website
Phosphorus and Nitrogen Availability In Manure From Pigs Fed Low-Phytate Corn
