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8/6/2019 PN 807 Pollution Probs in ATL
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than a follicle of human hair and are emitted from a variety of sources, including all that contributes to smog, as
well as aerosols, chemicals, burning wood and ash, and metals.
The good news: Georgia’s push toward cleaner air has led to an improvement in ozone reduction, and for the
first time, Fulton County dropped out of the top 25 most ozone polluted counties in the nation. The bad news:
Particle pollution is increasing, and is the most dangerous and most deadly outdoor pollutants, says the American
Lung Association. Atlanta currently ranks 7th in the nation for worst particle pollution, and Fulton County is 10th
on the year-round particle pollution list. Neighboring communities remain on the “non-attainment” list, failing
to meet federal air quality standards for ground-level ozone and/or particle pollution, including Cherokee, Cobb,
DeKalb, Forsyth and Gwinnett.
“We are certainly a region that has its air quality challenges, no doubt about it,” said Kevin Green, executivedirector of the Clean Air Campaign, the Atlanta-based organization working to reduce air quality pollutants in the
state of Georgia. “We have two challenges in terms of air pollution. Ozone, since it is tied so much to hot weather,
is generally seasonal. Ozone season in Atlanta is May through September. Particle pollution is generally year round.
And while we meet the short-term particle pollution standard, we don’t meet the annual particle standard. Last
year we had 30 violations of air quality standards; this year, by mid-June, we’ve already had nine violations only a
month into summer. The hottest summer months, when air quality is the worst, are still ahead of us.”
It’s no surprise Atlanta’s quality of air decreased as the population increased. Between 2000 and 2006, nearly
one million new residents relocated to Atlanta. “That’s like the entire population of Athens, Clark County, picking
P H O T O C
O U R T E S Y O F I S T O C K P H O T O . C O M
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August 2007 | Points North 35
lung. They are not able to talk about or
notice that they are breathing badly,” said
June Dean, vice president of public affairs,
American Lung Association’s Southeast
Region, Smyrna.
When Smog Alerts, a measurement
of air quality, are highest, so are visits
to emergency rooms and admissions to
hospitals in the metro area. According to
the Georgia Conservancy, there is a 37
percent increase in asthma-related emer-
gency room visits following smog alert
days. Michael Halicki, communications
director for the Clean Air Campaign
points out the correlation between high
Smog Alert days and traffic as evidenced
by the 1996 Summer Olympics. Fearful of
the traffic congestion caused by an influx
of visitors to Atlanta, Georgians stayed
home. The result was a 22 percent drop
in traffic and a resulting 28 percent drop
in ozone, a 40 percent reduction in acute
care visits for asthma, an 11 percent drop
in asthma-related pediatric ER visits and
a 19 percent reduction in asthma-relatedhospitalizations.
“We had the weather conditions
ripe for Smog Alerts and yet we saw a
significant decrease in the number of bad
air days during that time frame simply
because people stayed home,” he said.
Air pollution, of course, also has an
environmental impact. Animal life feels
the effect of rising ozone levels, just like
humans, especially fish that cannot survive
with high levels of nitrogen, or the water-ways that are taken over by algae that
grows when levels are high (think of a dirty
fish tank). Ozone has also been shown
to weaken vegetation, making it more
susceptible to disease, pests and stress, and
can reduce agricultural yields. A loss of
crops can also hurt the state economically,
as can non-attainment restrictions on
transportation improvements.
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36 Points North | August 2007
Changing Our Ways
The first form of protection is defense, which is why residents of
Georgia need to pay attention to Smog Alerts. Every day, fore-
casters review weather patterns and other factors to determine
the day’s ozone and particle pollution levels, creating the measure-
ment of air quality. Green means good, yellow is moderate, orange
means the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups, red is considered
unhealthy, and purple is very unhealthy air.
“It’s a public health issue and not just an irrelevant govern-
ment standard that people don’t need to pay attention to,” Green
said. “That’s why we do Smog Alert days, so people can know
what the forecast is and they can take actions to reduce their
exposure, particularly exercising in the later part of the day when
the smog is more concentrated, avoiding outdoor activity between
2 and 7 p.m. and fueling vehicles after 6 p.m.”
The next step is offense, and Atlanta and surrounding city
officials are working to reduce air pollutants. Mayor Shirley
Franklin is one of 238 mayors in 41 states to sign a climate change
agreement, which strives to meet or exceed the Kyoto Protocol to
reduce Global Warming pollution to pre-1990 levels by 2012, and
thusly air quality pollution, by taking action in communities.
“Atlanta’s future is bright and booming but I know that
our long-term success is directly linked to our commitment to
improving our environmental quality of life,” Franklin said.
“Atlanta has no natural boundaries — no mountains, no rivers
or coastline — so we’ve had more and more sprawl. A balancemust be struck between new development and growth, and envi-
ronmental sustainability.”
The number one way to decrease air pollution, both ozone
and particle, is to reduce transportation emissions, which is why
the State’s Clean Air Campaign promotes commuting alternatives,
such as teleworking, flexible hours to avoid heavy congestion at
peak hours, commuting, public transportation and walking and
biking to work.
“We recognize that breathing is not optional but that
commuting alone is optional for many of us, and that automobiles
contribute nearly half of the air pollution we have in the region,so motivating people to change their commuting habits can have
a dual benefit of helping us clean the air but also helping us reduce
traffic congestion,” Green said.
With power plants emitting sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides,
carbon dioxide and mercury (more than a dozen power plants are
located in Georgia), groups like the American Lung Association
are urging companies like Southern Company to clean up their
act. Less than half the power plants in the U.S. are fueled by
coal, but coal-fired boilers generate more than 88 percent of the
industry’s pollutants. Residents can also make changes to reduce
Pollution Problems
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38 Points North | August 2007
power — we produce about 40,000 pounds
of carbon dioxide emissions annually, says
Pace University — by setting the thermostat
to 78 in the summer and 68 in the winter,
planting trees and shrubs around the home
to create shade and being sure windows
and doors are properly insulated. When
doing projects around the home, using
electric-powered lawn equipment is better
than gas, and hand-powered is even better.
Also, plug appliances into power strips that
can be turned off when you’re not at home,
as appliances account for 20 percent of all
home energy use — even those turned off
but still plugged in, such as clocks on DVD
players and the cable box.
“One of the things we saw in terms of
fine particle pollution was that there was
a 7 percent increase in electricity produc-
tion — a result of the growing population
and rising temperatures. We’re all going to
have to look at alternatives to transporta-
tion, and we’re going to have to conserve
energy. Businesses are going to have to
clean up pollution; diesel trucks are going
to have to clean their engines; we’re going
to have to re-examine our energy footprint.
We’re trying to conserve water but we need
to take a protective view toward our air
quality as well,” Dean said.
Of course, becoming a more involvedcitizen may mean you have to become a
bit of an environmentalist, too. Moms
can take action to protect their children
by working with schools to prevent
buses from idling at the buildings and
keeping exhaust levels down. Groups
like the American Lung Association
(www.lungusa.org ), the Georgia Conser-
vancy (www.georgiaconservancy.org )
and the Sierra Club (www.sierraclub.org )
have ways to get involved in state and localefforts.
As Franklin said, “The Hopi Indians
have a saying, ‘Together with all nations
we protect both land and life, and hold the
world in balance.’ I encourage all of you
to make a commitment and get involved,
together we can hold Atlanta in balance
so that future generations will continue to
come here to live, work, play and learn.” PN
Pollution Problems
S M O G A L E R T S
You can receive smog alerts daily via e-
mail by visiting The Clean A ir Campaign’s
Web site at www.cleanaircampaign.com.