Ocean Dead Zones

Ocean Dead Zones

Have you ever heard of an ocean dead zone?  It is basically exactly what is sounds like.  In a dead zone in the ocean, there is no form of life.  Why is that?  Well, what happens for a dead zone in the ocean to form, according to the site http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/deadzone.html , is that there is pollution that makes its way into the ocean in the form of runoff, and this causes the growth of a lot of algae.  This algae then will sink to the bottom and begin to decompose.  This however, poses a threat.  When the algae decomposes, it will consume a lot of oxygen.  With this decrease in oxygen level, the marine life In the area can't survive.  So, animals die or move locations due to this pollution problem.  According to the site http://www.onearth.org/earthwire/devil-deep-blue-sea , The Gulf of Mexico has 5,000 miles of beach front water that is completely uninhabitable for marine life due to the pollution around that area.  It is one of the largest dead zones in the world actually.  So, imagine with all of the pollution that occurs in the world, just how many dead zones could there be? Well, it is estimated that there are around 400 of these dead zones throughout the world, but that is only on areas that have been studied.  There are a lot of areas unstudied, so the estimate is more around 1000 dead zones.  The dead zones are usually located along the shores around the world.  Why is this?  Primarily runoff pollution.  This pollution is filled with nitrogen from fertilizers.  There are dead zones that are inland as well, but they are usually in the ocean off shore and near the coast.  When you think about it, that's not very healthy for the water to be polluted like that, especially when people go and use the ocean for recreational purposes.  That can be very dangerous to one's health.  As you might expect, this isn't just something that can be looked over like it is no big deal.  These dead zones have a huge impact on the ecosystems around it as well as the economy.  According to the site http://www.seaweb.org/resources/briefings/dead_zone.php for example, it is said that the fisheries and shipment canals in the Gulf are being affected by these dead zones.  Not only that, but the fish that are being caught in these fisheries are believed to possibly be affected by the pollution as well.  Not only fish, but other organisms that are in hatcheries, like shrimp.  On an ecosystem level of thinking, the dead zones put a loop in the migration and spawning of fish. The food sources of fish are nonexistent as well, so that is causing problems for the fish too.  I hope that this article was helpful in providing information about what a dead zone is.  The pollution that is going into these waters is putting a great disruption in the ecosystems in the waters as well as off shore and in the economy.  Something needs to be done to reduce the effects that this pollution is causing. 

Aquaculture

What is aquaculture?  Well, according to the site http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/aquaculture/what_is_aquaculture.html , aquaculture is basically the harvesting, or in other words, farming and breeding, of different types of plants and animals that live in a wide range of marine environments.  Aquaculture can also be referred to as fish farming, in simpler terms.  This farming produces many different types of fish, from bait fish to food fish to fish that are in aquariums.  Plants and other items that aquaculture produces include sea vegetables, mollusks, and even some algae.  Also, aquaculture produces crustaceans like mussels, oysters and shrimps  Now, how exactly does this aquaculture work?  Why is it called farming?  Well, these fish and plants are formed in hatcheries and then grow larger in tanks or maybe even ponds.  Something I found interesting on this site while researching aquaculture was that the plants that are produced in aquaculture can be used in so many things.  A few that are listed include food products and pharmaceutical products.  I found that interesting because a lot of people might not know that those plants are used for very important things.  Producing many different species of fish and plants, there are obviously two different types of aquaculture.  These would be marine aquaculture, which is salt water, and the freshwater aquaculture.  So for example, fish like salmon are bred in a marine aquaculture environment, where as fish like trout and bass or bred in a freshwater aquaculture.  So, where does aquaculture happen, who does it?  Well, aquaculture is done all over the world.  The United States does produce aquaculture, however, it is not a big producer compared to the rest of the world.  According to the site http://thenaa.net/faqs/about-us-aquaculture , about 88% of the seafood that the United States  consumes is imported from other places.  According to the site http://fishery.about.com/od/CommonAquacultureSpecies/a/Aquaculture-Top-10-Aquaculture-Countries.htm , the largest industry in the United States is that of oysters, clams and mussels.  This accounts for 67% of the total United States aquaculture production.  So, which country has the largest aquaculture production? On the same site, the list the top 10, number 1 being China, 2 being Japan, 3 being India, 4 Chile, 5 Vietnam, 6 Indonesia, 7 Thailand, 8 Bangladesh, 9 Korea, and 10 is the Philippines.  It is estimated the only about 5% of the seafood supply in the United States comes from U.S. aquaculture production- everything else is imported.  According to the site http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/aquaculture/aquaculture_in_us.html , the United States trade deficit on seafood is about $11.2 billion each year.  This means that the value of the seafood that the United States imports is greater than the amount of seafood exported by that much.  That's a lot of money, you may not have known that much money was spent on something you probably never thought cost that much- seafood.  Obviously if the United States spends so much money on imports of seafood, these aquacultures in other countries are very important parts of their culture and way of life.  It helps their economies and creates jobs for people, and they also re-stock certain areas with species that are less populated, so it is also important not only for the economy, but for the environment as well. I hope this article helped provide some information about what aquaculture is and how it plays a major role in everyday life in the world's economy. 

Is Water a Human Right?

There is a very difficult subject that is constantly being debated about, and that is the debate of whether or not water is a human right.  What do you think?  Is water a human right?  When thinking about this, there are many things to consider.  For example, on the site http://www.unric.org/en/water/27360-making-water-a-human-right , it is explained that the United Nations General Assembly does in fact consider water to be a human right.  They care about the quality of the water, making sure that it is safe to drink, just as much as they care about the availability of the water.  It is not stated that the availability of water is not a human right in the Declaration of Human Rights, but the United Nations considers the availability of water to be a human right because according to them, if that is not a right, then that would also take away other rights, like right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being.  They say that if water is not a human right, and the availability of water is not a human right, then that takes away other human rights, so the question that if water is a human right or not is clear that it is a human right.  According to the site, http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/human_right_to_water.shtml , The United Nations General Assembly declared that water is a human right on July 28, 2010, in Resolution 64/292.  What did this actually do?  Well, in this Resolution, states and international organizations need to provide everything imaginable to provide safe and healthy drinking water for all.  If you would like to learn more about water and why it is crucial that it as well as sanitation are human rights then visit the site http://www.righttowater.info/ .  At this site, you can find out about how you can get involved, or where to learn about the rights of water in some more detail. 

In my opinion, water should definitely be a human right.  I fully agree that if that is not a right, or the availability of water and the access to water is not a right, that other rights would be affected.  Not only that, but water is used in so many different ways.  If water is not a right, and you had to buy it for everything, things would be a lot different because of embedded water, a topic I talked about earlier on the blog.  Basically embedded water is water that you use that you may not be aware you use, for instance the water it takes to make your food and clothes.  It should be a human right because it provides the health and well being as well as a lot of things you use in everyday life.  Water is such a precious resource that if you don't consider it a human right then a lot of things would not be possible in everyday life.  I hope this blog was helpful in describing why water is a human right and why the cleanliness of water is just as important as the access of water.  Just because water is a human right doesn't mean that the access to water is always there.  The access is just as important because it does so many things for health and everyday life.

The Lichen Study

A few weeks ago our class completed a study on two different types of lichens that grow on maple and ash trees.  These two types of lichens are Physcia millegrana and Candellara concolor.  Physica millegrana is a lichen that is more blue and green in color.  On the other hand, Candellara concolor is more of a yellow colored lichen.  What is a lichen, though?  Well, according to the site http://www.decodedscience.org/little-lichens-more-than-a-plant/20893 , a lichen is basically a hybrid between a fungus and an algae.  Different types of lichen grow in different types of air quality environments, good and bad.  We are studying the relationship between lichen growth and pollutants in the air, specifically SO2 and NO2.  What exactly are sulfur and nitrogen dioxides?  Well, they are each linked to one of the six criteria air pollutants, those being nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides and neither are good for one's health.  So you may be wondering, where do these nitrogen and sulfur dioxides come from?  Well, according to the site http://www.epa.gov/airquality/sulfurdioxide/ , the major source of sulfur dioxides is a result of big industries burning fossil fuels as well as the burning of fuel that contains sulfur.  This is also where you find most of the sources of nitrogen dioxides.  These sources include motor vehicles and power plants.  This information was also found on the same site that is linked above.  So what kind of effect do these pollutants have on plants, say, lichens There are many different theories being said about this relationship, some saying that more pollution will lead to more lichen, others saying that more pollution will lead to less lichen in the area.  As a class it was being discussed that more pollution will lead to more lichen growth.  According to the site http://staff.concord.org/~btinker/gaiamatters/investigations/lichens/affectslichens.html , lichen will either be destroyed by the pollution or a different type of lichen more tolerant to the pollution will start to grow instead.  There are many different types of lichen, and some are more tolerant to pollution than others, so, a new species of lichen will grow depending on the type and the amount of pollution there is in an area.  So, how did we complete this study?  Well, our Professor gave us three areas to each find our own individual tree to measure lichen on.  It had to be either a maple or an ash tree, and you knew this because if you looked at the branches, they branch off in the same spot from the branch, they do not alternate which side of the branch a new branch comes off from.  They are mirror images on one side of the branch to the other.  Once we looked at the branches and found a tree, we had to measure the lichen around the tree in all four cardinal directions, using a wired instrument that consists of 4 vertically connecting quadrants which are each 100cm2.  We would hold this piece 1 meter above the ground to ensure it was a good area that air pollution might be affecting the tree.  Too low and your results might be inconclusive and too high the same.  That is why we measured around the middle area of the tree.  This is also where most lichen would usually grow.  So once you help the piece 1 meter above the ground, you had to look to see how much lichen there was present in each of the four quadrants, in all four cardinal directions.  This would tell you that if there was pollution present, which direction it was coming from more.  We would rate the amount of lichen present in each quadrant on a scale 0-3, 3 being a lot of lichen, 0 being no lichen.  My tree had no lichen present on it at all, so the standard deviation of my tree lichen was 0.  My tree was on East green, with GPS coordinates 39°19'33.22"N 82° 5'56.82"W .  The point of this study is to pass down the data collected for these trees from class to class so that lichen is being measured every semester.  Studying the lichen is very important to be aware of the air quality around the area, that is the purpose of this study.  Credit needs to be given to Beatrix Potter, a women from northwest England who was the first person in Britain who began to study lichens more closely and how they are like a fungus and an algae.  She painted them and noticed the similarities, so she began to study them once inspired by her paintings to begin her studies on how they are fungus and algae related.  Without her beginning the study of lichens, who knows if anyone would have ever started to study them and find out these things about them, like how they are related to air quality.  The pictures of my tree are posted on this blog.  I will have them labeled in it's respective cardinal direction.  You will notice that there is no lichen on my tree.  It was about ten paces away from the street, however, it was in the middle of a street.  Trees farther down the street in both directions had a lot of lichen on them, or more than my tree had, which was nothing.  Why do you think this is?  Well, as a class we were saying that it is due to more pollution that more lichen is present, say it makes sense that maybe when cars are stopped at the end of the street on both sides sitting idle at a stop sign that there is more pollution due to the idling of the cars?  That is very possible.  I hope this blog was helpful in describing how we completed the study, and also just how important lichen study is to air quality.

 

Here are the branches of my tree.  Notice how the branches branch out from the same points. 

 

North^

 

South^

 

East^

 

West^

Muddy Stream

Stream Erosion

What is stream erosion exactly?  You probably have heard what erosion is before.  According to the site https://sites.google.com/site/earthscienceinmaine/erosion-and-deposition-by-flowing-water , erosion is simply described as transporting sediments.  This can be caused by many different things, some of which include the flowing of water and gravity.  So, as you can most likely figure out, stream erosion is the eroding of streams!  Erosion from flowing water has a lot to do with how fast the water is moving.  For example, if the water is flowing very slowly, there will not be that much erosion because there is not that much energy to carry particles of erosion.  However, if the speed of the water picks up, then more energy is produced, therefore being able to transport bigger particles. When erosion occurs, particles and or minerals are transported from one place to the next.  According to the site http://www.alevelgeography.com/the-long-profile-changing-processes-types-of-erosion-transportation-and-deposition/ , there are four main ways in which minerals and particles are transported during erosion. We will only be discussing two of these four from this site, and a third from another site, totally three loads.  One of these ways is called solution load.  A solution load is that in which the particles are fully and completely dissolved in the water of the stream.  This means that there are no particles visible.  The second way of transportation in streams is called suspension load.  In a suspension load, the particles or minerals are not dissolved, however, they are very fine particles that are suspended in the water.  This occurs more frequently when there is a higher speed of the water.  These particles are lifted (eroded) and then carried from one place to the next.  A color change in the water is possible here due to the fact that the particles are not dissolved, so an example would be a muddy stream.  The last type of transportation we will be talking about is called bed load.  This type of transportation is a little bit different than the other two we have previously discussed, solution load and suspension load.  Bed load is the group of larger particles and minerals that have settled to the bottom of the stream.  However, even though they have settled, that does not mean that they do not move.  These particles and minerals do move across the bottom of the stream and according to the site http://www.earthonlinemedia.com/ebooks/tpe_3e/fluvial_systems/geologic_work_of_streams.html , there are actually two ways in which these particles and minerals transport from one place to the next.  These two ways are called traction and saltation transportation.  Lets discuss traction.  This is basically when the particles or minerals inch their way along the bottom of the stream.  The next way, saltation, is when particles or minerals that fall into the bed that are originally suspended dis-lodge minerals in the bed load.  The dis-lodged minerals then travel  a little ways until they too fall back into the bed load, dis-lodging more minerals, and so on.  I hope this article was helpful in describing how particles and minerals are transported through erosion. 

 An example of a wetland

Wetlands

When you hear the word wetland what do you think of?  Possibly something along the lines of a swamp, lake, river or any combination of these.  Well, any one of these areas described above are technically not wetlands because according to the site https://www.wetlands-initiative.org/why-wetlands/what-is-a-wetland.html , a wetland is defined as an area that is dependent and/or determined by the water, and the presence of the water in that area.  The biochemistry of this area is determined or dependent on this presence of water, and this area also must be covered in water.  The water is fairly shallow.  This water is also un-drained, standing water.  You may have an idea of what a wetland is now, but did you know that there are different types of wetlands?  That is correct, there is not simply one type of wetland, listed on the same site are different types.  These types include marshes, wet meadows which simply have soil that is moist and saturated all of the time, wet prairie, which is the driest wetland, but still considered a wetland, fens and seeps, which grow from groundwater that travels south from a hill or mountain, and lastly, bogs.  Bogs only get water for the wetland by precipitation.  There is no groundwater that comes into a bog.  The only source is precipitation.  So why are wetlands of any importance?  Do they do anything, or are they just a home for wildlife in that area?  Well, wetlands do a lot more than you would think.  They are a habitat to some animals, and according to the site http://water.epa.gov/type/wetlands/fish.cfm , there are animals that are endangered that live only in wetlands, one third of the endangered and threatened animals in the U.S. live only in wetland areas actually.  But what else do wetland do?  Well, according to the site http://water.epa.gov/type/wetlands/people.cfm , one function that wetlands perform that is helpful is filtering.  What exactly does this mean?  Well, when water runs through a wetland, it catches anything that would clog other water ways.  It also collects some pollutants during this filtering process as water moves through as well.  This saves money because without these pollutants being filtered, more money would have to be spent to treat more polluted water.  Also in this site, it is said that wetlands flow and may replenish the groundwater in dry seasons.  This groundwater is used by a lot of people as a source of drinking water, or just simply a water source for other water needs.  When you think about that, you start to realize how important that is for areas around the world.  If these wetlands do not replenish the groundwater during dry seasons, there would not be any source of water possibly for areas around the world.  That itself is a very important quality of wetlands.  On this same site, there is also another very unique quality of wetlands that I never would have thought of.  This is wetlands being able to protect against erosion on banks and shores because the roots of the vegetation in wetlands hold the soil firmly in place, as well as take the energy intake of crashing waves coming in on a shoreline.  I found this to be so interesting and unique.  Not a lot of people probably know about this and just how important wetlands are.  It is important to preserve wetlands.  This is very important to the RAMSAR Convention, also known as the Convention on Wetlands.  According to their homepage http://www.ramsar.org/ , they are "an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources."  If you visit the same site, you can find the list of every country that is a part of RAMSAR.  This convention's main purpose is to preserve wetlands and to maintain them and study their benefits and unique qualities that can do so many things.  While searching this site, you can click on a map of the sites everywhere around the globe.  We were asked to find what big country that does not have much affiliation with RAMSAR, and on the map you can see that the Republic of Korea is apart of RAMSAR, however, not any of the sites are located in North Korea.  They are all located in South Korea.  We were also asked about RAMSAR in Ohio, and there is RAMSAR in Ohio, it is called Ohio Wetlands Association.  There is a website for it, http://www.ohwetlands.org/contact-us.html .  You can become a member, make a donation to support wetlands and their conservation, or go on a field trip to learn more about wetlands and their importance!  They are located out of Amherst, Ohio.  I hope this blog was helpful in providing some information about wetlands and just how important they really are. 

Urbanization

Urbanization

My last blog was about how much embedded water you use and what kinds of things have embedded water in them, and it turns out there is a lot of embedded water you use that you may not have thought about.  So, how else is water being used?  Well, more people are using it, its as simple as that.  This is the result from urbanization.  What is this?  According to the site http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/urbanization , urbanization is when populated areas become bigger than they already are and more and more people begin to live and work in that specific area.  With that being said its no mystery that because there are more people in a city, more water is going to be used and supplied for all the new people.  Also, when urbanization occurs, there are a lot of things that happen to create housing and to populate an area that can pollute water as well, according to the site http://water.usgs.gov/edu/urbanpop.html .  This pollution is harmful to the water being used locally.  So, where exactly is urbanization occurring?  You can simply say "where there are cities" but that's not very specific.  According to the site https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/world-urbanization-prospects.html , the two main areas where urbanization is predicted to increase are Asia and Africa.  Also, the most populated city in the world is Tokyo which has 38 million people, the second largest being Delhi which has 25 million people.  New York has about 18.5 million people (for a reference of population and city size).  It is difficult to imagine just how much water is used around the world when there are cities that are home to millions of people.  The thought is simply incredible, however, water is a closed system, so that means there is no new water coming into the system to be used.  And that is why urbanization is very important to understand because where is more water going to come from for these increasing cities and areas?  That is the question being asked because it is a very serious topic that a lot of people may not be aware of.  In addition to this comment, urbanization occurs around the world and different areas of the world do not have access to fresh drinking water to use for their everyday needs, so what is happening to these areas?  Well, water is now becoming even more scarce than ever before due to urbanization.  So, urbanization is having a huge effect on many areas around the world in terms of water usage and it is not having a positive effect on many areas of the world.  In conclusion, what effect does urbanization have on drinking water?  Well, the whole process of urbanization can pollute the water supply of an area with all of the construction and development that occurs within the urbanization of an area, and also urbanization is using more water in the areas that are more populated because there are more people in need of water in those areas.  I hope this blog was helpful in providing some information about urbanization and its effects on water. 

Embedded Water

Water is essential in everyday life.  It is crucial for survival, and it is said that you need water every couple of days in order to survive.  According to the site http://www.virtualhospice.ca/en_US/Main+Site+Navigation/Home/Support/Support/Asked+and+Answered/Nutrition/How+long+can+someone+live+without+food+or+water_.aspx
an exact amount of time that a person can go without water is unknown due to the fact that everyone responds different to the amount of fluids they intake.  It is said that a person can go only a few days without water because it starts to have negative health affects on someone.  So it is clear that water is very important to life and critical for survival, but water, clean, drinking water, is rare to find in some areas of the world, even in the US today.  California has had a horrible drought that is causing their water supply to be shortened and obviously in high demand.  People are having to go to the local fire departments to get water because there is no water coming to their houses.  Countries around the world have little to no access to clean drinking water and are forced to use dirty, polluted water for their water needs.  This leads to so many health problems it is ridiculous.  So with that being said, shouldn't there be an effort to try and save water as much as possible?  Well what if I told you that you use lot more water than you think you do?  How could this be you ask?  Well, this is called embedded water.  According to the site http://www.waterwise.org.uk/pages/embedded-water.html embedded water is all of the water that is used in making food and/or non-food things like the clothing you buy or the beer you drink.  Water is used in the production of making clothing and also in the making of alcoholic beverages, so the water that you get from the sink or use for a shower is not the only water that you use!  You use water in a lot more ways than you probably could ever imagine.  Also on the same site it is said that  person in Britain uses about one hundred and fifty liters of water from the tap per day.  However, when you look into the embedded water products used as well, that number per day of water usage increases all the way up to 3400 liters per day!  That is a huge difference from what most people think their water usage would be.  So, what kinds of things do people use everyday that they may not know uses water?  Well, according to the site http://waterfootprint.org/en/resources/interactive-tools/product-gallery/ , milk powder, wine, bio-diesel, leather, cucumbers, coffee, and chocolate all use water.  How does water usage relate to products that aren't food related you my ask?  Well, a cow can produce about 6 kg of leather.  In a cows lifetime, the water footprint of a cow is about 1,890,000 liters.  the majority of this water is derived in the beef of the cow, however there is a portion of the water from the cow that is derived from the leather.  So, leather clothing, bags, etc. all use water or have water in them due where the product came from.  There are so many things you use in a day that you may not even know needed water to be used in the manufacturing process to cool a machine or to be mixed with to make a pigment for something.  I hope this article was helpful in describing how water is used a lot more than the typical uses, like cooking and showering, but also in the formation of non-food products, as well as in foods themselves. 

 

The branches of tree

 

In front of Ellis Hall

 

North

 

South

 

East

 

West

Sulfur and Nitrogen Dioxide

What exactly are sulfur and nitrogen dioxides?  Well, they are each linked to one of the six criteria air pollutants, those being nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides and neither are good for one's health.  So you may be wondering, where do these nitrogen and sulfur dioxides come from?  Well, according to the site http://www.epa.gov/airquality/sulfurdioxide/ , the major source of sulfur dioxides is a result of big industries burning fossil fuels as well as the burning of fuel that contains sulfur.  This is also where you find most of the sources of nitrogen dioxides.  These sources include motor vehicles and power plants.  This information was also found on the same site that is linked above.  So obviously if these pollutants are watched carefully by the EPA they must not be good for one's health.  According to the site http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/phs/phs.asp?id=251&tid=46 , sulfur dioxide has very negative health effects from a long term exposure and even short term exposures, especially if the exposure time is in an area where the level of sulfur dioxide is high.  These health effects include airway obstructions and it also effects different functions of the lungs and can cause a burning to the throat and also the nose and respiratory problems and irritations.  The health effects of nitrogen dioxides are very similar to those caused by sulfur dioxides.  According to the site http://www.epa.gov/airquality/nitrogenoxides/health.html , they are respiratory problems, as well as loss in functions of the lungs.  Also, airways may be inflamed due to exposure.  Respiratory problems from both these pollutants are a wide variety of things.  Sulfur dioxides and nitrogen dioxides have similar effects on the respiratory tract when exposed, however, their effects are also slightly different.  According to the site http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/mmg/mmg.asp?id=249&tid=46 , the exposure to sulfur dioxides reacts with substances in the upper airway which then causes the lower airway, or the bronchioles, to constrict.  So you could say that both the upper and lower tract of the respiratory tract are effected by sulfur dioxides.  According to the site http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/mmg/mmg.asp?id=394&tid=69 , the lower respiratory tract is the main area that is affected when exposed to nitrogen dioxide, as opposed to sulfur dioxide that has an effect on both tracts.  Sulfur dioxide effects both while nitrogen dioxide really effects the lower tract.  To learn more in detail about the upper respiratory tract and lower respiratory tract, go to this site: http://www.webmd.com/lung/respiratory-system-18881 .  So what kind of effect do these pollutants have on plants, say, lichens?  Well, both actually have a negative effect on the lichen population, according to the site http://staff.concord.org/~btinker/gaiamatters/investigations/lichens/affectslichens.html .  This site describes that sulfur dioxides have a lot of responsibility in the decrease in the lichen population compared to nitrogen dioxides.  Yes, nitrogen dioxides are harmful to lichen as well, but sulfur dioxides are the main cause for loss in lichen species.  They say that lichen will either be destroyed by the pollution or a different type of lichen more tolerant to the pollution will start to grow instead.  I hope this article was helpful describing some information about the health effects of sulfur and nitrogen dioxides as well as where those pollutants come from and how they can be harmful to the plants that are exposed to them as well.

Air Pollution Control

Today we will be discussing air pollution control.  Specifically, we will be finding information from the Ohio EPA website, http://www.epa.state.oh.us/dapc/sip/sip.aspx . 

So how is the objective of having clean air achieved?  Well, there are State Implementation Plans, also known as SIP’s that are basically a set of rules (regulations) that are set in order to help maintain the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.  This is also known as the NAAQS and these standards are for the six criteria pollutants.  These six criteria pollutants include ozone, PM2.5, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, lead and carbon monoxide.  PM2.5 stands for particulate matter up to 2.5 micrometers in size.  The most recent standard set for ozone since 1997 was made in 2008 and this 2008 eight-hour ozone standard is 0.075 ppm.  The standard in 1997 was 0.08 ppm as the eight-hour ozone standard.  There are three different standards for the PM2.5.  The first is the 1997 Annual standard which is 15.0 µg/m3.  The next standard was in 2006 and is a 24-hour standard of 35µg/m3.  The last standard for PM2.5 is the 2012 Annual standard of 12.0 µg/m3.  The US EPA changed its standard for nitrogen oxides in 2010.  The standard used to be a one-hour primary standard of 53 ppb.  After the recent change, the new one-hour standard for nitrogen oxides is 100 ppb.  The standard for sulfur dioxide was also changed in 2010 from its previous standard to a new one-hour primary standard of 75 ppb.  Lead had a huge change in it’s standard in the year 2008.  The standard USED to be 1.5 µg/m3, but after the change the new standard is now set at .15 µg/m3.  According to the site http://www.southwestohioair.org/naaqs.html , the standard of carbon monoxide is 35 parts per million.  The eight-hour average for carbon monoxide according to the same source is 9 parts per million.  This is according to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.  When reading about these six criteria air pollutants you might come across the words attainment and nonattainment.  What is the difference you ask?  Well, according to the site http://www.deq.state.ne.us/AirWaves.nsf/cf7e4bdd49c643bf8625747f005a1515/3b00b887a2bae40b8625748e005ffbf5 , if an area has a criteria pollutant over the allowed standard, then that area is described as a nonattainment.  Therefore, an area where a criteria air pollutant is below the required standard then that area is describes as an attainment.  So, with that being said, what is the state of Ohio considered, attainment or nonattainment?  Well, according to the site http://www.greenenergyohio.org/page.cfm?pageId=282 , Ohio would not be able to be described as an attainment as a whole because there are areas, especially near Cleveland that are exceeding the ozone standard.  Thus, Ohio is a nonattainment because it has areas where a criteria pollutant is exceeding the standard allowed.  These air quality standards in Ohio are enforced by the EPA who basically has the power of law and writing regulations about air pollution control.  I hope this article was helpful in providing some helpful information about air pollution control in Ohio and also about the six criteria air pollutants and their standards.