Friday, March 1HOMEWORK FOR MONDAY: Read chapter posted on ELC. REVIEW SESSION on Tuesday, March 5 at 5:30 in regular classroom.TEST on Wednesday, March 6.Carmageddon and Clean Air•Pollution generated in cities backs up against mountains, creating a lot of smog.•Department of Transportation needed to close one of the major freeways to do roadwork, which would be a messy event.•They suggested that anyone who could stay off the roads should stay off them. So a lot of people decided not to drive. •Concentrations of ultrafine particles (air pollutants with a diameter of less than 0.1 microns) dropped by 83% around the closed 10-mile area.•Concentrations of larger 2.5 micron particles dropped 36%•Overall air quality improved 75% in parts of West Los Angeles and Santa Monica.•Air quality levels returned to “normal” (bad) levels after reopening. Economy and Air Pollution Impacts•Effects of recession (1980-1982) - infant mortality decreased in counties with large drops in total suspended particulates (TSP) compared to counties with little change in TSPs.•CHicago: •TSPs dropped 16 micrograms per cubic meter between 1980-1982.•70 additional infants survived to the age of 1 in 1982, reducing infant deaths about 5%.EPA New Standards for Ozone•Currently on hold. •EPA’s new ozone standards would improve human health and improve agricultural productivity.•Delayed due to concern about impacting economic recovery. Nitrogen Oxides•Nitrogen dioxide, nitrous acid, and nitric acid•Nitrogen dioxide forms quickly from emissions from cars, trucks, buses, power plants, and off-road equipment.•Contributes to formation of ground-level ozone and fine particle pollution.•Nitrogen dioxide is linked to respiratory system problems. Nitrogen Oxide: Health Effects and Exposures•Short-term nitrogen dioxide exposures (30 minutes to 24 hours) - averse respirator effects,including airway inflammation in healthy people and increased respiratory systems in asthmatics.•Susceptible individuals: asthmatics, children, and the elderly.•Near-roadway (about 50 meters) concentrations of nitrogen dioxide measured about 30-100% higher than concentrations away from roadways.•Subgroup effects: about 16% of U.S. housing units are located within 300 feet of a major highway, railroad, or airport (approximately 48 million people).Sulfur Oxides•Sulfur dioxide is a highly reactive gas known as “oxides of sulfur.”•Sulfur dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion at power plants (73%) and other industrial facilities (20%).•Smaller sources include industrial processes such as extracting metal from ore and burning high sulfur-containing fuels by locomotives, ships, and non-road equipment. •Health effects are similar to nitrogen oxides.Lead•Historically from combustion of gasoline•Now sometimes associated with emissions from power plantsGeorgia 9th in Toxic Air Pollution•Most of it from coal-fired power plants.•56% of Georgia’s power came from coal in 2010.Clean Air Act of 1970•1. Established National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). EPA set standards for pollutants identified as harmful to human health and the environment. The six “criteria” pollutants are:•carbon monoxide•nitrogen dioxide•ozone•sulfur dioxide•particulate matter with aerodynamic size less than or equal to 10 micrometers (PM-10)•lead•2. Primary and Secondary Standards. The Clean Air Act established two categories of air quality standards:•Primary standards set limits to protect public health.•Secondary standards set limits to protect against public welfare effects, such as damage to farm crops and vegetation.•3. Leaded gasoline phase-down. The law required leaded gas to be phased out by the mid-1980s.Clean Air Act Amendments•Focused on acid rain control and prohibition of leaded gasoline in motor vehicles by 1995. New provisions offered companies choices to meet emissions standards for sulfur dioxides and nitrogen oxides.•Utilities have the choice of using any of the following ways to meet the standard annual emissions allowance limit:•Fuel switching or blending - using a cleaner fuel or choosing lower sulfur coal.•Obtaining additional allowances - cap and trade (initially for sulfur oxides).•Installing glue gas desulfurization equipment, commonly referred to as scrubbers. Cap and Trade - CAA 1990•Required that overall sulfur emissions be cut in half.•Each company got to decide how/•Power plants that cut their pollution more than required could sell those extra allowances.•Created a new commodities market. Clean Air Act Successes•Six common air pollutants decreased over 50%.•Air toxins from large industrial sources (chemical plants, petroleum refineries, paper mills) were reduced by nearly 70%.•New cars are over 90% cleaner and will be even cleaner in the future. •This has happened while:•U.S. GDP (gross domestic product) has tripled.•Energy consumption has increased by 50%.•Vehicle use has increased by almost 200%.•The percentage of U.S. children with elevated blood-lead levels dropped from 88.2% (1970s) to 4.4% (1990s).Video on Pollution in China•Reading in the air was well into the 700s, when the scale only goes up to 500.•High pressure means descending air, which is trapped by the mountains to the west of Beijing. •This is an example of