Pittsburgh tops LA in particle pollution

State of the Air: Los Angeles sees slight improvements, but California still nation's top polluter
For the first time in the agency's history, the American Lung Association reports that a city outside of California has topped the charts in particle pollution.
Pittsburgh, which is home to a large steel coal plants, is now the number one polluted city for short-term particle pollution (soot), according to a new report by the American Lung Association.
Los Angeles still stayed number one in the other two pollution lists (year-round particle pollution and ozone pollution, or smog, the deadliest).
However, the city, which has gained world-wide attention toward it's efforts to reduce emissions, saw ongoing improvements in air quality, cutting its year-round particle pollution by about one-third since the 2004 report.
It also saw improvements in levels of ozone pollution, with the weighted average number of days each year with unhealthy levels of ozone dropping by 13 (103.3 to 90.3) from the 2007 to the 2008 report.
Statewide, 26 of California's 52 counties with air quality monitoring stations received failing grades for either high ozone days or particle pollution days. In alphabetical order, they are Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Fresno, Imperial, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, Mariposa, Merced, Nevada, Orange, Placer, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, Santa Clara, Stanislaus, Tehama, Tulare and Ventura.
Nineteen counties received an "A" grade for either high ozone days or particle pollution days, with some of these receiving an F in one category but an A in another. The A grade recipients for at least one category, in alphabetical order, are Calaveras, Colusa, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Plumas, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Siskiyou and Sonoma.
On May 1, the American Lung Association of California offered a chance to view the extensive air quality report that shows the grades for each county in the state.
People may enter their ZIP codes for their local air quality grades and other related links or log on to www.stateoftheair.org for the full report., called the American Lung Association State of the Air: 2008 Report.
In Los Angeles, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, American Lung Association of California Board Chair Gwendolyn Young, Sona Patel, MD (allergist and pediatrician)and Oswaldo Hernandez, a 14-year diesel truck port driver affected by air pollution spoke on the matter.
"When you think of the impact of ozone on our respiratory tracts, imagine putting acid right in your eye. It's that corrosive," said Tony Gerber, MD, an American Lung Association of California volunteer and a pulmonary specialist and assistant professor at the University of California, San Francisco. "This corrosiveness causes severe irritation and leads to problems like asthma attacks, coughing, wheezing, chest pain and even death."

Greenhouse gases increased in 2007

The amount of global greenhouse gases, including heavy polluter, Carbon Dioxide (CO2), rose in the atmosphere last year despite recent efforts to curb their increase, according to a US government agency, read a statement on ecoearth.info.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in its annual greenhouse gas data update, reported that Carbon Dioxide increased by 0.6 percent or 19 billion tons (2.4 parts per million) more than 2006.
In other words, "2.4 molecules of the gas were added to every million molecules of air, boosting the global concentration to nearly 385 ppm," a NOAA statement said.
Before the industrial revolution the total amount of CO2 in the atmosphere was 280 ppm, according to the agency's statement. Since 2000 the amount of gas rose about an average of 2 ppm per year.
Burning coal, oil and natural gas is the main source of CO2 emissions. Oceans, vegetation and soils absorb about one half of all CO2 emissions, while the rest persists in the atmosphere for centuries.
According to the LA Times, the amount of methane, also a large contributor to global warming, also increased by about 27 million tons last year. Despite the yearly increase, the Governor of California, while leading the state against greenhouse gas emissions, has been recently trying to put pressure on the federal government to start requiring lower emissions in cars, according to the Times.

Scentless flowers could wipe out bee colonies

Pollution, such as car exhaust, could be causing flowers to lose their scent and in turn causing bees to not pollinate them, which could set off a destructive ripple effect in our world's ecology.
According to new research by the University of Virginia, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, in highly polluted areas, which are commonly found next to freeways, highways, coal plants, e.t.c. produce conditions for flowers that have scent molecules that travel less farther than flowers in areas with less pollution.
Since the scent is lessened this makes it harder for the bees to find the flowers.
Scientists with the study also say this new found dilemma could affect bees' ability to attract mates and ward off enemies.
This new research could help explain why a bout 25 percent of bee colonies in the United States' 2.5 million abundance has nearly been wiped out, due to what is called colony collapse disorder, where the bees desert their colonies. Bee decline has continued across the globe and has now entered Europe, according to a report from the The Independent.
Recently, I was reminded by a friend that it was Albert Einstein who said if the bees were to disappear, humans would only have a few years left to live and civilization would end.

UPDATE: Chinook Salmon off limits this season

Due to declining numbers, The Pacific Fishery Management Council has decided to ban the fishing of Chinook, or king salmon, this season in California and Oregon for the first time in the fishing industry's history.
The National Marine Fisheries Service will have to approve the closure for it to go through.
According to the Times, Salmon have dropped from a fresh normal season in 2002 of about 800,000 to about only 60,000 salmon that are expected to spawn this fall.
Mounting concerns of global warming surrounds much of the declining restaurant favorite, in addition to highly contaminated ocean waters, rising sea levels and declining fresh water, such as in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
Some scientists say the cause of the low number of salmon is due to changing ocean conditions that have taken away their food source. The National Marine Fisheries scientists say the winds have caused currents to shift statewide, unsettling nutrients, a possible link to global warming.
Others say it is because of urban run-off from streets, sewage waste, and pesticides from nearby farming operations in the San Joaquin valley, one of the largest farming locations in the state.

Veteran EV reporter gives CSUF students heads-up

Gary Polakovic, an award-winning veteran environmental reporter for the Press-Enterprise and LA Times, visited Cal State Fullerton's first environmental reporting class last night and gave some insight into the growing field.
Mr. Polakovic spoke last night to new journalists, who desire to become balanced EV reporters, and gave a few pointers.
First, with the aspect of the environment and news like global warming and "Al Gore," swimming around in the "blogsphere," becoming ever so popular, changing the course of history, although that could happen, should not be our intention. This is called advocacy journalism and can often label journalists as being "green," or "pro-environment." We must stay away from this Gary says and we should force ourselves to be objective and accurate.
The most important point is that environmental reporting has a lot at stake, we're talking big business, lives, jobs, economy, housing, reporting on the environment can affect a lot of things. So that's why he said it's so important to be accurate!!! The smallest mistake or misquote or exaggeration can result in people losing their trust in what you say or a lawsuit.
So if there is one thing we can learn from Gary, who basically created the field of EV reporting, it's that we need to get our facts straight. Once the facts can stand on their own, then it doesn't matter what anyone says.

Sean's E-Vlog— An apple a day....

UPDATE: Navy releases impact report

The Navy released a large marine impact study Thursday, amidst recent allegations that training exercises off the California coast could be harming, and in some cases, killing marine life.
But this isn't the first study.
It comes after federal judges said previous environmental reports done by the Navy did not properly assess how to protect whales and dolphins from routine sonar tests.
The Pacific Ocean off of California is home to numerous marine mammals, such as the gray whale that makes its annual voyage from Alaska down south to Mexico.
According to the Environmental Impact Statement the Navy training exercises could expose 94,370 marine mammals each year to sonar frequencies loud enough to alter their behavior, potentially injuring or killing as many as 30 marine mammals including two gray whales, one blue whale, one sperm whale, 11 dolphins and 15 harbor seals," as reported in the LA Times by Kenneth Weiss.
The Navy's computer models show 817 mammals would be affected by underwater explosions used by the Navy, with 36 suffering from mild injuries and possibly 12 could be severely injured or killed, such as dolphins and sea lions that are found washed up on the beaches.
The region that the study indicates is called the Southern California Range Complex, which includes Santa Catalina, Santa Barbara, San Nicolas and San Clemente islands from LA to Baja.
The Navy's environmental statement comes only a few months after a dolphin washed up on the shores of San Nicolas Island in late January during the final stages of the Navy's sonar exercises.
The federal court ordered last year a requirement that the Navy shutdown all sonar operations when whales are 2,200 yards within range and some spots near the Channel Islands.
But according to the Times, the Navy sees the measures as getting in the way of realistic exercise training for submarines and ships and see as reducing sonar at 1,000 yards of a marine mammal and shutting down operations at 200 yards as sufficient.
In January, President George W. Bush sided with the Navy by exempting the agency from precautions in California because of concerns to ensure effective use of "national security," angering many environmental groups, according to the New York Times and Planetark.com.
The Navy will hold a public hearing on May 1, 2008 at the Long Beach Public Library located at 101 Pacific Avenue, Civic Center Plaza.