Smog Blogging

       Drowsiness and headaches sound like simple complaints after a long day’s work. But what about “dry eye,” congestion, and breathing troubles? Recent studies show that the dangers of smog extend inside city buildings and are truly capable of causing human sickness.

       The term is “sick building syndrome,” and it includes the problems listed above. Typically, workers experience these syndromes only while inside their work buildings. A study spanning four years looked at buildings in 37 cities (not necessarily the smoggiest), testing indoor air quality and surveying employees in 100 buildings from these cities. The buildings were studied under different weather conditions and temperatures, and research consistently showed a link between atmospheric ozone layers outside and the amount of people suffering from these illnesses.

       Even in cities where smog levels were not noticeably high, workers still experienced some of the symptoms on a smaller level. The research noted that most buildings have mechanical ventilating systems rather than natural circulation systems. The type of filter seemed to affect the results as well. (Polyester or synthetic filters causing more trouble than fiberglass filters.)

       So how is smog becoming a problem inside? Scientists are still guessing, but research has found that unstable ozone molecules can react chemically with office building materials. Glass doesn’t tend to have much of a reaction, but according to this study, the bonds in polyester are easily broken up by ozone. The issue involves more than just filters, though. Ozone reacts with certain plastics, carpet fibers, and even oil from human skin, resulting in toxic irritants.

       Sick Building Syndrome doesn’t fluctuate solely with smog levels. In a workplace, especially one that is crowded and busy, even simple cleaning products, solvents in everyday desk products (like white-out), or particles from certain furniture material can contribute. However, evidence strongly supports the idea that smog levels outside are an important factor.

    

Downtown Houston is covered in a shroud of haze in the afternoon, as seen from the north Friday, Aug. 4, 1995. Mayor Bob Lanier has approved the city’s participation in a program to issue ozone smog alerts when air pollution reaches unhealthy levels. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Sources:

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=smog-can-make-people-sick-even-indoors

http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/sbs.html

http://www.lhc.org.uk/members/pubs/books/sbs/sb04.htm

Global Warming Gaining Speed

                                   

      We might tire of hearing it, but the Global Warming problem is as present as ever. In fact, its effects may be coming sooner than we expected. Nancy Gibbs reported in Time this week that we are heading toward dangerous consequences, and we are moving fast.

     Gibbs cites new and alarming facts which U.S. government scientists announced this week. By their calculations, approximately 40% of the Arctic’s ice may disappear by the year 2050, a shocking estimate even for those involved in this field of work. The year 2008 is also predicted to be the warmest in a century. This means more than just bad news for the polar bears.

     Scientists now predict the arrival of a deadly, disease-carrying water snail in China due to the melting ice caps. With a growing population and increasingly dense cities, disease spreads rapidly. A further prediction estimates that nearly one billion people could be at risk for dengue fever, a disease spread by mosquitos, with rising temperatures and rates of rainfall.

     Perhaps one of the reasons this situation is so dire is because we keep saying that we can turn it around in the future. However, as this article states, greenhouse gases remain in the atmosphere for years. Even if a large level of these gases was decreased, there would likely still be a decent decline in the Arctic. At the rate we’re going, we are not exactly close to having ideal sustainable environments.  

     From a different angle, many are looking at the possible resources that the melting ice caps might gain us. Also, passages reducing the amount of time to commute from Europe to Asia are likely, meaning less transportation pollution. However, these seemingly positive results have problems as well.

     With U.S. studies estimating that nearly 25% of the world’s undiscovered oil and gas might become available in the Arctic, countries will be rushing to make their claims. Russia, for example, has already planted their flag near the North Pole. There is more than enough conflict in the world from battling for resources already. Plus, the process of obtaining them might actually cause more environmental problems such as oil spills and harm to animal life.

Sources:

Time magazine, Sept. 24, 2007, p. 17

http://usasearch.gov/search?input-form=simple-firstgov-images&v%3Aproject=firstgov-images&query=arctic

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-northwest-passage,0,4639842.story

Tackling the Turf

     Who would guess that America’s largest irrigated crop is not corn, wheat, or tobacco, but in fact, mere lawn turf? According to Cristina Milesi of NASA’s Ames Research Center, America contains about 128 million square meters, or about 400 million square feet of lawn area. That’s approximately three times the amount of  irrigated cropfields. So what’s the problem? Neatly-trimmed, well-watered lawns are just what Americans want in their neightborhoods. However, many do not know the environmental impacts of the American lawn.