EPA: Smog May Worsen With Global Warming

(AP)  Global warming could worsen smog and stretch what typically is a summer pollution problem into the spring and fall, government scientists predicted Thursday.

Smog is most likely to get worse in the Northeast, lower Midwest, and mid-Atlantic regions of the country, where numerous counties and cities are already struggling to clean up the air, according to a draft analysis by the Environmental Protection Agency.

But in Texas and Southern California, already among the smoggiest areas in the country, the science is unclear, even conflicting. Smog there could get slightly better or become more severe, the analysis said.

Nonetheless, researchers said state officials should be factoring in the impact of global warming as they make plans to try to reduce smog, calling it a "climate penalty."

"These findings also indicate, that, where climate-change-induced increases in (smog) do occur, damaging effects on ecosystems, agriculture, and health will be especially pronounced, due to increases in the frequency of extreme pollution events," the analysis concluded. However, the prediction came with a caveat: the researchers did not take into account efforts to reduce smog that are already under way because of stricter environmental regulations.

EPA stressed that the document did not represent the agency's policies or position on global warming. On Friday, the agency is scheduled to officially respond to a Supreme Court ruling that said greenhouse gases could be regulated under the Clean Air Act if they pose a risk to human health or welfare.

The Bush administration has resisted linking global warming to public health problems.

The ill-effects of smog, however, have been long been recognized. Smog is formed when nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds released from cars, industry and plants mix in sunlight. It can irritate the respiratory system, reduce lung capacity and aggravate asthma. Global warming would make smog worse because it would cause plants to release more smog-forming organic compounds and spark more lightning storms, which create nitrogen oxides naturally.

Barry Wallerstein, executive director of the South Coast Air Quality Management District, which regulates air pollution in Orange County, Calif., and parts of Los Angeles, said the link between global warming and smog should compel EPA to control greenhouse gas emissions.

[grammawhamma]

But in Texas and Southern California, already among the smoggiest areas in the country, the science is unclear, even conflicting. Smog there could get slightly better or become more severe, the analysis said.

Gee...that kind of leaves the door wide open. How scientific can you get? {rolling eyes}

[libsluv2spit]

You skipped a few Decades there Sparky! The FASCIST Republican''''s are the ones who took us from a Balanced Budget and a Surplus to RECORD Debt and RECORD Deficits...it was NOT the Democrats and THEY, the Fascist, BORROWED that money on your Kids future. Now lets hear it for the Republican''''s folks!! SIEG HEIL BUSH!!!

Posted by MCVet at 10:32 AM : Jul 11, 2008
+ report abuse

******

that is utter New York Times style bullsh*t..you looser weed smoking reject..

PROVE IT!!!!!!!

[libsluv2spit]

in LIBERAL LOS ANGELES OR CALIFORNIA..

if we would like to have cleaner air and less dependency on oil..

WE NEED TO KEEP THAT OIL PRICES UP..COSTING THEM MORE ON THE PUMPS..

because cleaner air, war, dead american soldiers or dead iraqis,,really aint going to motivate these liberals..


MONEY OUT OF THIER WALLETS WILL..

[barbaram99]

Climate change is the right answer. I ''member my younger brother talking about it as he was in college in the 70s. Had no idea of what he was talking about, I do''member them pretty blue skies and not them hazy skies of today. I have family back east. Heat waves are bad. I hate smog.

[steeepe]

It''s great to see that these amateurs have a better understanding of climate and atmospheric chemistry than Nobel Prize winners and the majority of scientists. Let''s see, who''s more credible.....The climate seems to be changing and it''s ridiculous to think that we can pump billions of tons of gases into the air with no consequences. By the time the nay-sayers recognize reality, it would be way too late to do anything about it. Bush doesn''t want to do anything because he is an idiot who only favors big business and the wealthy. What''s the excuse for the rest? Bush says we''ll lose jobs. Why does he favor "free" instead of fair trade? Unbridled free trade is ruining America and costing more jobs than regulating exhaust. He''s a moron that should have been born about 800 years ago.

[barocalto]

Man made global warming is a joke and a scam..

[pensacola88]

Part of the cause for the smog is that boutique fuels used to gain credit with the EPA for emmissions reductions cause the buildup of harmful ozone. The environment must have a prevailing wind to carry the harmful ozone away, or it becomes visible and builds up to concentrations sufficient to cause respitory stress.

There are over 2 dozen boutique fuel formulas that states are using to try to fight air contamination, and some are used seasonally.

Ozone is becoming the most harmful product of boutique fuel programs. Fortunately, the Clinton administration added ozone to be included in air quality standards left out in previous air quality measurements.

The real solution is fuel efficient vehicles with retail gasoline price incentives that offer the lowest gasoline price per gallon, to users with the smallest and most fuel efficient engines.

[xmanborg]

VANCOUVER, Wash. -- It shook, steamed and shot out lava on and off for about three years, but now the experts believe Mount St. Helens is going back to sleep, for the most part.
Steam and smoke rise from the crater at Mount St. Helens during a past volcanic event.
A statement released by the U.S. Geological Survey team Thursday said %u201Cthe more than three-years-long, lava-dome eruption of Mount St. Helens that began in autumn 2004 and paused in late January of this year appears to have ended.%u201D
Geologists studying the lava dome said that five months have passed with no signs of renewed eruptive activity and earthquakes, volcanic gas emissions, or ground deformation.
They added that they had watched the rate of lava-dome growth gradually decline throughout the eruption, which accounted for at least 93 million cubic meters of new lava, or a volume that would cover seven lanes of highway from New York City to Portland.
But now that the eruption is over, that doesn%u2019t mean the mountain will remain entirely at rest.
%u201CThe new lava dome remains hot in places-capable of producing small hot avalanches or minor explosions that could dust areas with ash up to tens of miles downwind.%u201D
It went on to say that rock fall from the crater walls coulc produce clouds of dust that rise above the crater rim and heavy rainfall or rapid snowmelt could send small debris flows onto the Pumice Plain north of the crater.

[cbsguest6]

I don''t believe that global warming is caused by anything man-made but I do believe that smog could become worse because of global warming. I also believe we need to reduce smog for this very fact.
I hope my logic makes sense.

[mrtbob]

There is no global warming--- don%u2019t worry so much.
D. Cheney