Hi Top Cities With the Worst Air in the United States.

Hi Top Cities With the Worst Air in the United States.

Dealing with poor air quality can be not only an annoyance, but hazardous to your health as well. Although there are places around the world that are much worse, there are still places in the United States that have poor air quality. Because of this, the residents suffer, dealing with the poor air quality sometimes every day of the year. Be aware of the cities that have the worst air quality, and learn how to best protect yourself if you reside in one of these cities.

Los Angeles:

There are close to eighteen million people living in and around the Los Angeles area. This includes Long Beach and Riverside. Because of these large number of people, industrial factories, cars, and shipping ports add a large amount of pollution. It doesn't help that there is not often weather changes such as high winds, rain or snow to clear everything out. Even though the air is heavily polluted, it is better than it had been in previous years. There have been efforts made to clean up the air, making it healthier for everyone in the area.

Phoenix:

With a smaller population, reaching about four million, the air is still heavily polluted. Although Arizona has been known for a long time as the perfect place for those with respiratory issues to come and relieve their lungs, the same cannot be said for the state's capital. Because of the way the city is situated, it makes it hard for the pollution to leave the area, causing it to settle. Those who already have problems with their lungs or heart should stay inside on bad air days and avoid exercising outside.

Hanford:

Although the population of Hanford, California is smaller than most cities that made the list for the greatest pollution, this town of 150 thousand people ranks in the top ten worst cities for pollution by ozone, year round pollution, and short term pollution. Those who live in this area should be aware of these potential dangers, and do what they can to protect themselves against the problem.

Bakersfield:

Bakersfield, California has ranked as the worst city as far as air quality goes many times, not necessarily because of the pollution, but because of the elements that are in the air. There is a lot of agriculture in this region, and when work is being done, fertilizer and pesticides used, and even dust is brought up into the air, creating a potentially harmful concoction to ingest.

Even if you don't live in one of these cities, you still have a potential of getting sick from pollutants in your area. To better protect yourself plan to carpool, stay inside on days with poor air quality, and ensure that the filter in your homes heating and air system is always in proper working order. The filter in your home is critical for many. It is the first line of defense in your home to create a safe environment against the pollution in the air. Take care of this to maintain your health in the best way possible.

!!!!AIR POLLUTION CALIFORNIA!!!

Hi Five Awesome Environmental Projects Undertaken By Large Cities!.

Hi Five Awesome Environmental Projects Undertaken By Large Cities!.

Environmental conservation is every nation's rallying call in the wake of its massive destruction around the world and the dire need to conserve it for ourselves and the future. Unless proper measures are undertaken to protect and conserve it, we shall only be around long enough to watch it perish and we after it.

Many, if not all the nations of the world, in this realization have come up with ingenious ways and projects to conserve the environment and keep it that way for a long time to come. We will look at least five of these projects carried out in major cities around the world.

Near Albany, NY, a company known as Ecovative Design came up with a low-cost innovative zero-waste, bio-based packing material that replaces foam packaging like urethane, Styrofoam and plastic thermoforms. The process takes place indoors, in darkness and doesn't require any human intervention.

It mainly uses fungi which 'grow' on custom-shaped forms that are made from inedible crop waste like buckwheat husks. There is zero waste because all the raw material becomes part of the final product, and easily becomes compost after the intended use.

This product in essence replaces 196,000 cubic feet of foam plastic packaging parts, thereby saving 77 thousand gallons of petroleum annually, essentially because approximately 10% of petroleum used in America goes to the manufacture of plastics and foams.

In Tokyo Bay, an ambitious construction project is being developed to help in the conservation of the environment. The Shimizu Corporation has an ambitious project of constructing a pyramid that is three miles long, making its height 14 times higher than the Great Pyramid of Giza. There are smaller projects too that have just as big ambitions, the Vancouver Cigarette butt recycling program, looks to make Vancouver the most eco-friendly city by 2020.

The pyramid will be made up of 204 other smaller pyramids and will have at least 750,000 housing units for people in Tokyo. The carbon fibre material used to make the pyramid will be mainly light weight; the pyramid will be host to shopping centres, restaurants, research facilities and private homes. The residences and businesses will be powered by wind power, solar power and algae scum.

In the Maldives, an ambitious project funded both by the government and well-wishers has been started up to conserve corals. Seamarc, a consultancy company in marine matters has engineered an innovative technique where new corals are propagated on metal frames.

This is made possible through a process of transplantation using broken fragments of corals harvested from the natural reef. The coral fragments are then attached to the metal frames where they grow into new colonies.

Discernible difference can be viewed within 2 months of the initial 2-3 weeks that follow the transplant. Proceeds from each frame are used to fund local community initiatives and also towards research in Cocoa Island's marine conservation pro-grammes.

Another construction project in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi is building the 1st carbon-neutral city in a span of 10 years. The city will have all cars banned within city limits; only solar-powered vehicles would be allowed within the city.

80% of all the water in the city will be recycled and all human waste 'repurposed' and converted to energy for use. This city would move beyond the current dependency on oil and will be the world's first zero-waste, zero-carbon city, especially because the city will be built with recycled materials from ground up which will eschew carbon emissions.

In Europe, a recycling process for waste water to be used in hotels was developed by Marco Cremona, an engineer, mainly to be used in hotels. Its system, based on the innovative Membrane BioReactor (MBR), this is a waste water treatment process that is used together with reverse osmosis process (RO) that is well proven. With this process, 70-80% of the water brought in by the hotel will be conserved.

In[visible] Pollution:

In[visible] Pollution:

We spend a lot of time on talking about pollution, but it's not just us, it's the entire media, and it has been that way for more than a decade. 

So if you're truly sick of hearing/reading/seeing about how damaging we as a species are to the Earth, perhaps you should click the back button.

But before you do, let me tell you this isn't about ozone layers, or global warming, or toxic materials storage. 

This is about a pollution source that goes ridiculously underreported, and despite its highly visible presence, researchers are just beginning to understand its effects.

It might be weird to consider light a contaminant, but that's exactly what it is (artificial light, that is). 

We all know the cyclic patterns of the sun are entirely responsible for life on Earth anyway, but humans' lack of night vision has birthed trillions of incandescent, fluorescent, high-intensity discharge and LED bulbs since commercial light bulbs were first available in the late 1870s.

Light Pollution Effects:

Of course, not all artificial light sources pollute equally. 

Indoor lights are quite necessary. 

They have provided us with more time to finish tasks or spend on recreation, and are absolutely necessary in higher latitudes, when daylight can be reduced to just a few hours per day. 

There is no telling how many "cow kicked over the candle" fires that artificial lighting has spared. Indoor light is also largely held in check by the building it illuminates.

Outdoor lighting receives the most scrutiny when considering light pollution. 

First, many overnight lights are left on continuously, and in an age of resource sustainability this type of energy waste is being carefully reconsidered. 

While streetlights may make shady street corners or back streets more safe, they're also an enormous energy burden in big and small cities alike. 

Also, as energy savings from more efficient lights are realized, it might prompt engineers to begin placing more lights. 

Studies have also indicated that excessive light during nighttime can lead to headaches, fatigues, stress, sexual dysfunction, anxiety and poor temperament.

Light pollution can also disrupt ecosystems-everything from diurnal animals, to moths attracted to lights, to birds who are disoriented by excessive light pollution, and amphibians and reptiles who function on a "light compass." 

It also prevents observation of the night sky by both professional and amateur astronomers, as light from a single location scatters and impairs viewing conditions even dozens of miles away.

Solutions? None, really:

Really, what can we do? Humans never evolved the same inherent night vision as many other mammals, and therefore developed technology to combat this inferiority. .

To truly cut back on light pollution, several techniques are recognized. First, full cutoff fixtures have been implemented in many cities and towns, sometimes by ordinance. 

These lighting devices use a flat lens to ensure all light is pointed downward, and the light housing reduces extra glare but also minimizes the light's efficiency. 

Also, spacing lights appropriately according to their wattage often results in fewer lights being used overall.

There have been attempts to develop methods that minimize light trespass using scientific guidelines. 

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed software that allows lighting engineers to quantify the performance of lighting designs by analyzing glow and trespass, while comparing different lighting alternatives for the same space. 

Another system, the Unified System of Photometry, establishes a measurement of what type of street lights belong where, based on an algorithm of visibility, energy consumption and security. 

It commonly recommends replacing yellow/orange-ish street lights with white 'cool' lighting, which can reduce power drawn and light pollution without affecting visibility.

The problem with these solutions is that they only minimize extraneous light proliferation, and do nothing to ultimately stop light pollution.

Forgive my pun, but light pollution isn't a black-or-white, day-or-night issue. 

There is always going to be a need for a competitive balance between the two, but consider that, as a whole, illumination technology is still quite immature. 

There could be a day when engineers are able to reliably illuminate our nighttime environments without negatively affecting so many of the ecological processes around us. 

Until then, personal responsibility of light pollution is the only real means to moderate light pollution. 

It's like the Keep America Beautiful advertising campaign from the 1960s: be responsible for yourself, because there aren't any other alternatives.

Hi' Tips to Improve Indoor Air Quality;

Hi' Tips to Improve Indoor Air Quality;

Indoor air pollution is considered as one of the top environmental risks to public health worldwide due to increasing number of building-related illnesses. 

Studies have found that concentration of indoor pollutants is significantly higher indoors than they are in outdoor environment, which is two to five times and sometimes hundred times higher than outdoor levels. 

As most of the people spend 80% to 90% of their lives indoor, indoor air quality has significant implication on sustainability.

Decreased indoor air quality can affect quality of life of the building occupant, increase health risks and increase the liability for building owner, decrease the productivity of occupants and reduce the resale value of the building. Poor indoor air quality can cause “sick building syndrome”, which is a medical condition linked to poor health and absenteeism.

Poor indoor air quality is due to many factors including but not limited to improper building design, inadequate ventilation, off-gassing of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from furniture, carpets, paints and coatings, cleaning products, and from human respiration. Airborne particles such as lints, dust, dust mites, mold, bacteria, pollen and animal dander also contribute to poor indoor air quality. Indicators that are used to measure the indoor air quality include total particulate matter, total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs), formaldehyde, carbon dioxide (CO₂), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O₃), air temperature, relative humidity (RH). Concentration of CO₂ in the indoor environment indicates whether ventilation is sufficient or not.

In the Middle East region, most of the people live in enclosed air-conditioned indoor environments. With rapidly growing population, increase in number of vehicles on the road, high temperature level, ever increasing construction activities, regular sandstorm, concentration of air contaminants in the region is among the highest worldwide. Indoor environment also reflects outdoor air quality and pollution. Transport of outdoor contaminants to the indoor environment can result in occupant exposure to outdoor pollutants that have serious health impacts. In addition, there are many sources of indoor pollutants present in building materials, cleaning products, indoor mold and legionella growth, and emission from interior furnishings, finishing and equipments.

Tips to Improve Indoor Air Quality;

Indoor air quality is influenced by concentration of outdoor air pollutants as well as indoor source of pollution, characteristic of building and habits of occupants. Appropriate building design and mechanical system and control strategies as well as changing occupant behaviour can improve indoor air quality and health and comfort, performance and productivity of building occupants. There are a host of strategies to improve the indoor air quality.

Appropriate design;

Building envelop, orientation, and location of air intake, location of mechanical ventilation systems can contribute to indoor air quality. Hence, these factors should be considered during the design stage of projects to control the main source of pollutants for the whole building.

Whole house mechanical ventilation;

Properly designed and sized ventilation system can supply adequate outdoor air to indoor. In most of the green building rating systems, industry standards such as ASHRAE Standard 62 or Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality are commonly followed.

Mixed mode ventilation:

Use of combination of mechanical and natural ventilation systems in buildings, such as automated window controlling systems and operable windows, can help in maintaining healthy indoor air quality.

Air quality management during construction:

During the construction phase, molds can develop due to exposure of building materials with moisture. Dust and particulates can easily accumulate on building materials if they are not protected. The air quality during the construction period can be protected by protecting the building materials from dust and particles and moistures.

High efficiency air filters: 

Filters prevent transports of outdoor VOCs, dusts, particulates and ozone indoors. Use of good particle filter such as high MERV rated filters in ventilation equipment are found to be the most effective filters in filtering outdoor dust and particulates out.

Maintenance schedule for HVAC filters:

Dirty filter can cause sensory irritation. Hence, appropriate maintenance schedule can prevent this to happen.

Use of low emitting materials: 

Use of materials that have low VOC content for products such as indoor carpets, rubber flooring, sub-floor materials, ceramics and ties, plasterboards, or other sealants and adhesives.  Also internal construction materials with low formaldehyde content can be helpful.

Conduct building flush out: 

Flushing out of indoor contaminants thoroughly in buildings before occupancy will help replacing dirty indoor air with fresh outdoor air.

Green cleaning program:

Select cleaning materials that are made of low emitting materials and employ a green cleaning program to reduce contaminant exposure.

Carbon dioxide monitors: Install CO₂ monitors in ventilation system and integrate them to regulate the supply of fresh air according to the building occupants demand. By doing so, if the CO₂ concentration increases beyond a set point, then the airflow automatically increases. 

Sustainable Cities.

Hi Air - Mercury Emissions Spread Overland!.

Hi Air - Mercury Emissions Spread Overland!.

Hi Air / Water; A national study finds that mercury has spread, even to areas considered to be pristine.

Fig A Above;

Although generally low in concentration, a study of mercury levels in fish from 21 Western national parks did find some locations where mercury concentrations exceeded health thresholds for potential impacts to fish, birds and humans, according to a recent publication by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and National Park Service (NPS) researchers. This study, the first of its kind, detected mercury in all of the fish sampled, even from the more pristine areas of the parks.

What is Mercury?

Mercury is a toxic, global contaminant that threatens ecosystem and human health. It is a naturally occurring element and the only metal that exists as a liquid at room temperature. Mercury is also used in industrial practices, mostly for the manufacture of industrial chemicals and for electrical and electronic applications.

The EPA sets standards for safe consumption of fish for human health in regard to mercury levels. In addition, EPA and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have issued a joint advisory regarding recommended consumption of fish and shellfish due to mercury contamination levels. More than 16 million lake acres and one million river miles are under fish consumption advisories due to mercury in the United States, and 81 percent of all fish consumption advisories issued by EPA are because of mercury contamination.

Where Were These Fish Found?

More than 1,400 fish were collected between 2008 and 2012 from hard-to-reach, high-elevation lakes and streams in 21 national parks in the Western United States and Alaska.  Investigators sampled 16 species, with a focus on sport fish such as brook trout, rainbow, cutthroat and lake trout, as well as smaller prey fish eaten by birds and other wildlife.

How Did Mercury Migrate?

Although there are natural sources of mercury, such as emissions from volcanoes, the majority of the mercury in these high elevation areas arrives from man-made sources such as coal-burning power plants, waste incinerators, oil and gas wells, and mining operations. The mercury can originate many miles from the national parks, as it travels through the atmosphere as tiny particles or gases. It then settles to the ground carried by falling rain or snow, or landing on the ground as dust particles. In wetlands, atmospheric mercury can be transformed into methylmercury, a more dangerous form to living organisms.

Methylmercury levels can accumulate in animals over time and actually increase in concentration up the food chain, resulting in very high levels in larger animals. This process is known as bioaccumulation and happens when predators eat prey animals that already have mercury in them. The mercury in the prey animals is then stored in the tissues of the predator.

Dangerous to Human and Animal Health!!!

During their research, the scientists found that the mercury levels in fish greatly varied between parks and between sites within each park. In most parks, mercury concentrations in fish were moderate to low in comparison with similar fish species from other locations in the Western United States. Mercury concentrations were below EPA’s fish tissue criterion for safe human consumption in 96 percent of the sport fish sampled.

There were, however, particular areas that researchers identified elevated fish mercury concentrations, including levels that exceed safe human consumption or wildlife health benchmarks. Some sport fish exceeded the EPA human health criterion at Lake Clark, Lassen Volcanic, Mount Rainier, Rocky Mountain, Wrangell-St. Elias, Yellowstone and Yosemite national parks.

Mercury concentrations in individual fish also exceeded the most conservative fish toxicity benchmark at Capitol Reef, Lake Clark, Lassen Volcanic, Mount Rainier, Rocky Mountain, Wrangell-St. Elias, Yosemite and Zion national parks. Mercury levels in some fish exceeded the most sensitive health threshold for fish-eating birds at all parks except Crater Lake, Denali, Grand Teton, Great Basin, Great Sand Dunes, Mesa Verde and Sequoia-Kings Canyon national parks.

Start with Science!!!

Although risk of harm to humans and wildlife may be low in many locations, there are substantial concerns about the locations with high risk. 

This study identified areas where additional research is needed to better understand the risk to all national park units, and other remote landscapes or understudied environments.

Ultimately, advisories and related warnings consider both the risks and benefits of consuming fish. 

Future collaborations between research groups would map patterns of mercury across national parks in greater detail, supporting resource managers’ decisions to protect both national park visitors and the wildlife they come to see.

The USGS’s website at  provides many fascinating stories and information, click the link here to visit the site. 

- "Their tag line is “science for a changing world.”

Fig B. Above; Spatial distribution of the 21 national parks sampled in this study. Size of circle represents percentage of total dataset.

Fig C. Above; A NPS researcher holds a brook trout in Mount Rainier National Park. Image credit: Collin Eagles-smith, USGS.

Hi Court; "Upholds EPA Emission Standards."

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld the Environmental Protection Agency's first emission standards for mercury and other hazardous air pollutants from coal- and oil-fired power plants.

In its ruling, the court rejected state and industry challenges to rules designed to clean up chromium, arsenic, acid gases, nickel, cadmium as well as mercury and other dangerous toxins.

The EPA's determination in 2000 that regulating emission standards is appropriate and necessary, and the agency's reaffirmation of that determination in 2012, 'are amply supported by EPA's findings regarding the health effects of mercury exposure,' said the court.

Congress did not specify what types or levels of public health risks should be deemed a hazard under federal law. 

By leaving this gap in the statute, Congress delegated to the EPA the authority to give reasonable meaning to the term 'hazard,' said the court.

In the majority were chief judge Merrick Garland and judge Judith Rogers, both appointees of President Bill Clinton. 

Judge Brett Kavanaugh, an appointee of President George W. Bush, joined most of the decision, but he parted company with his colleagues on the issue of cost - specifically, whether the EPA is obligated to consider industry costs in deciding whether regulation of hazardous air pollutants from power plants is appropriate.

'The problem here is that EPA did not even consider the costs,' Kavanaugh said. 'And the costs are huge, about $9.6 billion a year - that's billion with a b - by EPA's own calculation.'

In response, the majority said the EPA properly decided that the decision whether to regulate mercury should be based on health risks, not compliance costs. 

The majority added that the EPA had determined that benefits of the rule exceeded costs by a factor of at least 3 to 1. Some industry groups have said the EPA was overstating the benefits.

It is only in the first stage of rulemaking that the EPA doesn't industry costs, said the majority opinion. 

It added that the second stage leads to standards that are more restrictive and that, when setting those, the EPA does consider costs.

The new regulations are designed to remove toxins from the air that contribute to respiratory illnesses, birth defects and developmental problems in children.

Most companies operating power plants will have until March 2015 to meet the standards, but a state could grant an additional year and the EPA could extend the deadline until 2017 if the unit was critical for reliability.

- "The EPA proposed the rules in 2011."

Tuesday's ruling is 'a giant step forward on the road to cleaner, healthier air,' said Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund, which was a party in the case.

The EPA called the decision 'a victory for public health and the environment.'

'These practical and cost-effective standards will save thousands of lives each year, prevent heart and asthma attacks, while slashing emissions of the neurotoxin mercury, which can impair children's ability to learn,' the EPA said.

Laura Sheehan, senior vice president of communications for the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, said that due in part to regulations like the one in Tuesday's ruling, almost 300 coal-fueled generating units in 33 states have announced they will shut down, costing the electricity sector roughly $200 billion in compliance costs and destroying at least 544,000 jobs.

Sheehan said that impacts of EPA's rulemaking processes aimed at coal have already been seen this past winter, with coal power plant retirements leading to increased reliance on natural gas - a just-in-time fuel source subject to volatile price spikes that many consumers and small businesses bore the brunt of. 

She said such impacts will only increase as more coal units are retired, especially next spring, the deadline for complying with the mercury standard.

The coalition says industry has invested $130 billion to reduce major emissions from coal-fueled power plants by nearly 90 percent and that it plans to invest another $100 billion over the next decade on clean coal technology.

National Mining Association President and CEO Hal Quinn said the federal rule 'imposes enormous costs upon households and businesses but provides little additional environmental benefit. The court recognized the EPA has the authority to consider costs but upheld EPA's decision to ignore them.'