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Air quality concerns impact North Carolina |
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Tuesday, 11 September 2007 |
 This diagram from the National Weather Service’s Web site displays the air quality in North Carolina and surrounding areas for the week of Sept. 9. Source: www.nws.noaa.gov/sectors/midatlantic.php#tabs |
by LAUREN LAWSON
News Reporter
Since
Aug. 23 there have been six air quality health notices issued within
North Carolina, according to the North Carolina Division of Air Quality.
“The
reason for the many code orange and red warnings has been because of
the hot dry weather without any wind,” N.C. Division of Air Quality
spokesman Tom. C Mather said.
Mather said it is not unusual to have air pollution problems during the summer months.
“Ozone season runs usually May through September and is a product of weather and pollution,” he said.
Besides the heat, other weather factors contribute to the pollution problems in the southeastern states.
“We’ve had a high pressure system over this area for a while…stagnation
has occurred due to this high pressure keeping the air from moving,”
Dr. Thomas L. Rokoske said. Rokoske is a physics and astronomy
professor.
Jan Jackson said the high-pressure ridge over the Southeast is not
unusual. Jackson is a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in
Blacksburg, Va.
“What you need is a front coming through. [There have not been] many
fronts in a while. It has been about two or three weeks with out any
breaks in the high pressure,” Jackson said.
Mather said it is encouraging that while this summer has been hot, we
have had lower pollution problems compared to previous years.
“Two big reasons for the ozone problem are coal power plants and cars and trucks,” he said.
Mather said the pollution levels have declined thanks in part to
legislation passed over the past few years concerning stricter
regulations on these factors.
Some of the legislation passed includes the 2002 Clean Smokestacks Act,
which requires power companies to reduce their smog and haze emissions
by approximately 75 percent by 2009.
There are now also stricter guidelines for vehicles and, more specifically, their engines.
“Now regulations on trucks are just as strict as cars - they must have
cleaner fuel which means reducing the sulfur content by over 90
percent,” Mather said.
“Car emissions testing has also been expanded from nine to 48 out of the 100 counties in North Carolina,” he said.
Mather said those 48 counties with testing are the most populous
counties so they are now testing about 80 percent of cars in North
Carolina.
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