Feb 20, 2007 5:07 pm US/Central
Scientists Track Pollution From Cities To Suburbs
by Jeff Jamison
NORTH TEXAS (CBS 11 News) ―
Recent pubic hearings and political action have shown North Texans are concerned with what the proposed coal plants will do to the local environment. Specifically, some are concerned with how our air quality will be affected.
Researchers track air pollution in a P-3 aircraft. While on board, a team of seven National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration researchers look for the source of air pollution. Is it automobiles, petrochemical plants or agriculture? Wherever it's coming from, the goal is to make our air cleaner.
Ozone is a major contributor to our state's bad air. Ozone is a good thing high up in the atmosphere where it blocks the sun's harmful UV rays. But when ozone builds at ground-level, it becomes a health hazard, triggering illness like asthma.
The proposed new power plants in Texas are, among other things, emitters of nitrogen oxides, which are directly related to the build up of ground level ozone.
Chief Researcher and chemist Dr. Tom Ryerson said the news of new power plants isn't all bad. "They've done an excellent job locally and throughout the state of reducing emissions from power plants," he said.
Researchers are also trying to answer this question: is pollution causing global warming, or is it the case of global cooling? Fine particles in the air absorb the sun's energy and warm the earth. But if the particles reflect the sun's rays back into space, the earth is cooled.
The study is based in Houston, but the findings have implications in North Texas. "When the wind blows from the southeast, pollution from Houston can move toward Dallas," Jim Meager, Air Quality Program Manager of NOAA, said.
"We make dedicated flights to the DFW area to measure the contrast between the DFW and the Houston area," research scientist Gerd Hubler said.
Along with the long distant transport of bad air, what researchers are finding locally might surprise you about where you live.
"As you go farther and farther downwind from the sources, the concentration is higher than they are in the middle of the cites," Meager said. "Suburbs have the highest concentration of ozone."
The increase of people moving out of the city and into the suburbs, along with our own population boom means these issues won't be going away anytime soon. "Some of the things that make this an attractive area to live unfortunately make it an attractive area for pollution," Meager said.
Another piece of encouraging news from the study: Dallas air quality has shown a little improvement in terms of emissions over the past six years.
(CBS 11 News)
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