Asthma Walk May 3, 2008
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2008 State of the Air Report Released
In the latest air quality report from the American Lung Association, Salt Lake City ranked 7th in the nation for the worst short-term particle pollution, and Provo ranked 12th.

The American Lung Association State of the Air 2008 found that 125 million Americans live in areas with dangerous air pollution levels, and warned that the trends show air pollution levels stalling at levels that are still dangerous to millions. See the full report here>>

Unhealthful levels of particle pollution create serious, even life-threatening risks for many people, including children, teens and seniors, and people with asthma, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

In Utah, weather inversions occur most frequently in January and February and as a result, these months tend to be the worst for air quality. Inversions occur when warm, high-pressure systems push cool, high particle, polluted air underneath a warmer cap. The trapped air turns into a smoggy fog. But this is hardly news to Wasatch Front residents who wake up for weeks at a time to the smelly blanket of dirty air.

Brian Moench, founder of Utah physicians for a healthy environment, has loosely compared breathing polluted air to smoking cigarettes. Though representatives from the Utah Division of Air Quality said the comparison is inaccurate, both are encouraging clean air initiatives.

Inversion cloud valleys typically remain until a strong wind or snowstorm dissolves the dense air. But Utahns suffer from their own pollution.

The obvious solutions to clean air by limiting driving through public transit, carpooling, walking or biking to work, and alternative fuel vehicles are the best methods to help clean the air. Northern Utah will be making this process easier for Utahns with the addition of the commuter rail FrontRunner. But these methods aren't always realistic or plausible. The Environmental Protection Agency has provided a list of possibilities to protect the environment when the other solutions aren't plausible.

Cars create nearly half of the pollution in the environment. The EPA recommends several simple strategies to reduce emissions. One of the best ways to reduce emissions is to keep up maintenance on the car by keeping tires inflated and replacing the air filter. Another way to maximize gas mileage is to maintain a constant speed limit and drive at the speed limit by using cruise control and gradually accelerating. Drivers should limit drive time by combining errands and shopping locally. In many cases, if drivers keep speeds at 55 mph rather than 65 mph on the highway, gas mileage can increase by 15 percent.

Many people don't realize that electricity does contribute to air pollution. Make sure to turn off lights and unused electrical appliances. During the summer and winter, turn down the air conditioner and heater to help reduce emissions from power plants.

What you do does make a difference. The EPA has provided statistics on three easy ways to help. If 190,000 car owners started to get regular tune-ups, they would keep some 90 million pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. If each commuter car carried one more passenger, 600,000 gallons of gasoline would be saved and 12 million pounds of carbon dioxide will be kept out of the air. If consumers set their air conditioners six degrees higher, it would save 190,000 barrels of oil a day.