Would you rather live here, or here? A step back in that direction.

You don’t have to live across the street from a smoke stack for the air pollution from the smoke stack and automobiles to be a problem. Use this web cam to look at the air pollution out in the middle of nowhere. As you can see on that web page, the [visible] condition there has improved. [But what about the non-visible condition?] This map shows that the air pollution at some of the other national parks is getting worse. (Once you open the web page, scroll down to see the map.)

Here are some more examples of good days vs bad days at various locations across the country. Also note, there is a big brown cloud pollution day movie there that you can watch.

Here is a collection of visibility web cams.

It’s enough to make you not want to live in Boston, New York, etc. But, even if you run away to the middle of nowhere, you are not going to escape the air pollution.

Professor Douglas Dockery’s web site
has references to information about air pollution and health.

The air that we breathe
has a number of web pages about air pollution and health. (See the links at the bottom of the page.)

Air pollution plaintiffs protest at Toyota February 2, 2007.
“The Tokyo High Court has proposed the seven automakers make lump-sum payments to the plaintiffs in an out-of-court settlement.
The Tokyo District Court in 2002 recognized the connection between air pollution and the plaintiffs’ illnesses and ordered the defendants, excluding the automakers, to pay a combined 79 million yen in damages.”

UW study shows pollution linked to heart attacks February 1, 2007.
“A nationwide research project coordinated out of Seattle has provided further evidence that exposure to air pollution raises the risk of heart attacks, heart disease and stroke.
“We’ve found this risk to be even stronger than previously recognized,” said Dr. Joel Kaufman, a University of Washington expert on environmental health who led the study published in today's New England Journal of Medicine.
The results, though derived from a large research project involving only older women, almost certainly apply to men as well, Kaufman said.
...
The UW scientists found that an increase of 10 points in the PM2.5 levels increased a woman’s risk of a heart attack or other “cardiovascular event” by 24 percent and risk of death from heart disease by 76 percent.
...
Evidence of the link between heart problems and pollution dates back at least to a 1952 disaster in London known as the “Great Smog.” A cold December fog trapped coal smoke in an inversion, killing thousands of people (8,000, by one estimate) and prompting new clean-air regulations.
...”

Dirty air riskier for older women February 1, 2007.
“The fine grit in polluted air boosts the risk of heart disease in older women much more powerfully than scientists realized, a big federally funded study has found, raising questions of whether U.S. environmental standards are strict enough.
...
In this study of 65,893 women, the average exposure was 13 units, with two-thirds of the subjects falling under the national standard. But every increase of 10 units, starting at 0, lifted the risk of fatal cardiovascular disease by about 75 percent. That is several times higher than in a study by the American Cancer Society.
...”

Scientists urge tighter rules for ozone pollution February 1, 2007.
“Environmental Protection Agency scientists released a “staff paper” Wednesday, concluding that existing standards aren’t protective enough for children, people with respiratory disease and even healthy people active outdoors.”

Poll fuels fight for smoking ban February 1, 2007.
“Backers of legislation that would ban smoking in all public and work places across Texas — including restaurants and bars — touted a new poll Wednesday showing that two-thirds of Texans support a statewide smoke-free law.”

Senate OKs no smoking in car with kids inside February 1, 2007.
“The Senate signed off on a proposal to restrict smoking in cars when a young child is present.”

Storm blows out dirty air; more snow likely February 1, 2007.
“And on the 21st day, the inversion lifted.
At least temporarily.
...
Now the bad news. Because of the frigid temperatures the storm will bring with it - highs will drop to the low 20s and lows in the single digits by Friday - another inversion will begin setting up over the weekend.
The good news: it may be relatively short-lived.
...”

Utah gasping at unusual smog: Inversion has state choking on exhaust, factory emissions January 31, 2007.
“...
Salt Lake and Davis counties, home to more than 1 million people, have been under a red alert for 16 days in January, which means the unhealthy air should be avoided by the elderly or anyone with respiratory problems. Some schools have kept kids off the playground.
Inversions aren’t new to Utah, but this one is “wide, deep and dramatic,” said Bob Dalley, of the state Division of Air Quality, whose daily Web updates are must-reads.
...
Salt Lake and Davis counties logged only three red days last winter, compared with 25 this season, through Tuesday.
...”
[
Haze obscures mountain view February 5, 2002.
“...
The haze is a familiar winter feature along the Wasatch Front, the string of urban and suburban valleys on the west slope of the Rocky Mountains. Most of the pollution comes from motor vehicle exhaust. Temperature inversions can trap that smog for a week or two at a time.”
...
The Sierra Club, a critic of Olympic planners for using thousands of higher-polluting sport-utility vehicles, urged Utah drivers Tuesday to cut back for the competitors’ sake.
...
]

Effect of exposure to traffic on lung development from 10 to 18 years of age: a cohort study

Traffic-related pollution and lung development in children

Living near a freeway effects lung development in children January 28, 2007.
“W James Gauderman (University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA) and colleagues compared lung-function measurements from 3677 children from 12 southern California communities that represent a wide range in regional air quality. In children who lived within 500 m of a major road, 8-year lung growth was significantly reduced compared with those who lived 1500 m or more from a freeway. The investigators report that both local exposure to freeways and regional air pollution had detrimental, and independent, effects on lung-function growth. There was a pronounced deficit in percentage-predicted lung function at 18 years of age for those living within 500 m of a freeway.
The authors state: “In many urban areas, population growth is forcing the construction of housing tracts and schools near to busy roadways, with the result that many children live and attend school in close proximity to major sources of air pollution. . .In view of the magnitude of the reported effects and the importance of lung function as a determinant of adult morbidity and mortality, reduction of exposure to traffic-related air pollutants could lead to substantial public-health benefits.””

Living Near a Busy Highway Impedes Children’s Lung Growth January 26, 2007.
““We did not find any evidence that traffic effects varied depending on background air quality, which suggests that even in an area with low regional pollution, children living near a major roadway are at increased risk of health effects,” the investigators said.”

Scientists map air pollution using corn grown in US fields January 22, 2007.
“Atmospheric scientists typically measure carbon dioxide by collecting air samples, but this is the first time fossil-fuel-emitted carbon dioxide has been mapped using plants. This new method may complement existing air sampling techniques because plants provide a cost-effective way to record average daytime conditions over several months. Plants take in carbon dioxide gas, from both background and fossil fuel sources, during photosynthesis, and it becomes part of the plant tissue.
In summer 2004, UCI scientists collected corn from farms and gardens in 31 states, including Hawaii and Alaska. They chose corn because it is widely grown and, as an annual plant, all of its carbon is derived from a single growing season. The scientists avoided pollution point sources such as highways and power plants to allow for mapping of regional patterns across different states. Back in the laboratory, the scientists dried samples of corn leaves and husks, then converted them to graphite using a series of chemical reactions. The graphite then was analyzed in the W.M. Keck Carbon Cycle Accelerator Mass Spectrometer, which measures a rare isotope of carbon, called radiocarbon. Carbon dioxide derived from fossil fuels contains no radiocarbon so it is easily distinguishable from other sources. With measurements from this machine, scientists calculated overall levels of carbon dioxide produced by fossil fuels at the location where the corn samples were collected.”

Smog Rules Illegally Weakened, Court Says; EPA Must Reinstate Pollution Limits on Factories, Trucks, and Cars December 22, 2006.
“A federal appeals court today struck down an attempt by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to weaken national rules limiting smog linked to asthma attacks, increased hospitalizations, and that puts millions of Americans at risk for respiratory problems. In a unanimous ruling, the Court held that EPA violated the Clean Air Act in relaxing limits on smog-forming pollution from large power plants, factories, and other sources in cities violating health standards.”

Holly trees hobbled by smog December 22, 2006.
“The plants grew fewer new leaves and shed more existing ones than usual. The pollutant [ozone] - a component of smog - also weakens holly trees’ ability to withstand cold in winter.”

Air pollution killer in Asian cities December 20, 2006.
“Air pollution is killing more than half a million people in Asian cities each year and shows no sign of improving as urban centers expand, studies by the Asian Development Bank show.
A recent ADB conference in Indonesia, was told that air pollution had reached “serious” levels in several Asian cities, with the problem worsening due to increased urbanization and motor vehicle use.
World Health Organization (WHO) expert Michal Krzyzanowski said that the estimate of premature deaths caused by urban air pollution has been revised upwards to over 750,000 globally, including more than 530,000 in Asia. Experts cited the increase in an air pollutant known as fine particulate matter or PM10 that “enters the lungs and stays there.””

Wealth brings new health threats November 28, 2006.
“As the level of development worldwide increases, the greatest threats to health will shift from infectious diseases to non-communicable health problems like smoking-related illness, obesity and depression, according to updated data from the World Health Organization.
However, even given optimistic development projections, AIDS will continue to take a toll.”

Heavy smoking cuts chances of IVF success November 8, 2006.
““Cigarette smoking negatively affects pregnancy probability even when the eggs come from a non-smoker,” he told Reuters. “This is the first time an effect of tobacco consumption has been demonstrated on the uterus.””

The AT: An uncertain path October 29, 2006.
“Research shows smog in the Shenandoah Valley and Great Smoky Mountains is often worse than in downtown Los Angeles.”

WHO issues air quality guidelines to reduce deaths October 5, 2006.
“The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday that drastically reducing air pollution in cities could prevent 120,000 deaths a year from respiratory infections, heart disease and lung cancer.”

Polluted air linked to increased stroke risk September 22, 2006.
“Breathing polluted air even for brief intervals may increase the risk of a stroke within the next two hours, a study by Japanese researchers published online in Occupational and Environmental Medicine said. Air pollution has been linked to a variety of lung and breathing problems, but this is the first time a link to stroke is reported.”

Qatar to impose tougher rules against pollution September 14, 2006.
“Doha: Qatar will soon impose stricter environmental regulations to combat industrial pollution, a local daily reported on Wednesday.”

City smog blamed for 1400 deaths September 12, 2006.
“SYDNEY’S polluted air is contributing to the deaths of up to 1400 people a year, NSW Health chiefs admitted yesterday.”

Study shows how cigarette smoke blocks cell repair August 21, 2006.
“Cigarette smoke can turn normal breast cells cancerous by blocking their ability to repair themselves, eventually triggering tumor development, University of Florida scientists report.”

Air pollution blamed for kids’ poor scores May 31, 2006.
“Children exposed to intense urban air pollution while in the womb are 2.9 times more likely to be developmentally disabled at age 3, a New York study says.
...
“This is the first time it’s been shown that in-utero exposure to air pollutants is linked to delayed cognitive development at age 3,” chief researcher Frederica Perera told The New York Post. “They had a significant drop in scores.”
Researchers said they did not know why the developmental problems did not show up earlier in the children ...
...”

Surgeon general’s dire new warning on secondhand smoke June 28, 2006.
Secondhand smoke dramatically increases the risk of heart disease and lung cancer in nonsmokers and can be controlled only by making indoor spaces smoke–free, according to a comprehensive report issued Tuesday by U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona.
“The health effects of secondhand–smoke exposure are more pervasive than we previously thought,” Carmona said. “The scientific evidence is now indisputable: Secondhand smoke is not a mere annoyance. It is a serious health hazard that can lead to disease and premature death in children and nonsmoking adults.”

Ontario urges US co-operation on air pollution June 27, 2006.
“Ontario says more than half of its air pollution comes from U.S. sources. Air pollution from outside the province is responsible for more than 2,700 premature deaths, almost 14,000 emergency room visits and more than C$5.2 billion ($4.6 billion) in health and environmental damage every year, Ontario says.”
[
CHOKING US TO DEATH
The Air Pollution Crisis and Its Effects on Bicycle Couriers
A report by the Toronto Hoof and Cycle Courier Coalition
May 1999
]

Passive smoking linked with diabetes for first time April 7, 2006.
“Breathing in other people’s smoke boosts the risk of developing diabetes, a new study suggests.
...
Passive smoking has been associated with heart disease and cancer but not, until now, with diabetes.
Recent studies have suggested that passive smoke may contain more dangerous ingredients than previously thought.
Smoke that is released from a cigarette between inhalations is cooler than smoke that is directly inhaled. The chemical reactions which produce this initially un–inhaled smoke mean that some toxins are at higher levels than in the smoke directly inhaled by smokers.”

Sharp rise in CO2 levels recorded March 14, 2006.
US climate scientists have recorded a significant rise in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, pushing it to a new record level.
BBC News has learned the latest data shows CO2 levels now stand at 381 parts per million (ppm) — 100ppm above the pre–industrial average.
The research indicates that 2005 saw one of the largest increases on record — a rise of 2.6ppm.

Researchers to Scrutinize Megacity Pollution During Mexico City Field Campaign March 2, 2006.
“We’re not looking so much at pollution inside the city because that’s already fairly well known,” Madronich says. “We’re looking at the outflow. For the first time we’ll have an idea of how much pollution is outside the city and be able to understand its full life cycle.”

Stark warning over climate change January 30, 2006.
“Rising concentrations of greenhouse gases may have more serious impacts than previously believed, a major scientific report has said.
The report, published by the UK government, says there is only a small chance of greenhouse gas emissions being kept below “dangerous” levels.”

Illinois [proposes] to Slash Mercury Emissions 90 Percent by 2009. January 7, 2006.

Researchers show how air pollution can cause heart disease. December 20, 2005.
New York, December 20, 2005--New York University School of Medicine researchers provide some of the most compelling evidence yet that long-term exposure to air pollution--even at levels within federal standards--causes heart disease. Previous studies have linked air pollution to cardiovascular disease but until now it was poorly understood how pollution damaged the body’s blood vessels.
In a well-designed mouse study, where animals breathed air as polluted as the air in New York City, the researchers pinpointed specific mechanisms and showed that air pollution can be particularly damaging when coupled with a high-fat diet, according to new research published in the December 21 issue of JAMA.
"We established a causal link between air pollution and atherosclerosis," says Lung Chi Chen, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Environmental Medicine at NYU School of Medicine and a lead author of the study. Atherosclerosis--the hardening, narrowing, and clogging of the arteries--is an important component of cardiovascular disease.

Pregnant smokers increases grandkids’ asthma risk April 11, 2005.
A child whose maternal grandmother smoked while pregnant may have double the risk of developing childhood asthma compared with those with grandmothers who never smoked, say researchers from the University of Southern California, US. And the risk remains high even if the child’s mother never smoked.
...
Gilliland believes the trans–generational repercussions of smoking indicate that tobacco chemicals are having a two–pronged effect: by directly damaging the female fetus’s immature egg cells – putting future children at risk – and also by damaging parts of the fetus’s cells that are responsible for determining which genes will be expressed.
This second type of effect – called an epigenetic effect – could potentially alter which genes are expressed in the child’s immune system which, in turn, Gilliland suspects, may increase the child’s susceptibility to asthma.
“We did not study epigenetic changes directly, but this is one suggested mechanism that could account for our findings,” he told New Scientist.
...
Gilliland admits that one of the limitations of his study was that the children may have acquired their asthma through passive smoking as a result of living in a smoky household where their mother, grandmother or other relatives smoked.
“Other studies suggest that in–utero exposure has an independent effect from second–hand smoke, but second–hand smoke may also play a role that we could not separate in this study,” he comments, adding that further studies are needed.

Motorcycles emit ‘disproportionately high’ amounts of air pollutants December 9, 2005.
[Gasoline lawn mowers too.]

DMSO raises a stink at sewage treatment plants December 20, 2005.
Researchers believe they've found the source of a stinking problem that has plagued areas surrounding sewage treatment plants for decades. Much of the "rotten cabbage" smell near these facilities, they say, is likely caused by trace amounts of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) in waste water.

‘96 report did little to better area’s air: The same toxics linger years after a study exposed a link to cancer March 2, 2005.
“A decade ago, a team of scientists and local health officials studying environmental problems in Harris, Brazoria and Galveston counties concluded that hazardous air pollution could cause 12 to 73 cases of cancer here annually.
Some of the seven pollutants the team found at high levels then are the same ones the Houston Chronicle found in its investigation last summer and that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality last month said posed increased cancer risks.
However, when the original study was presented in 1996, it sparked little public debate and even less change....”

Scientist Says ‘Asian Brown Cloud’ Threatens Gulf February 25, 2004.
DUBAI - A body of pollution which has been identified in the skies across Asia is now threatening to engulf the Middle East and make the planet a drier place, a leading environmental scientist said on Tuesday.
...
Ramanathan, an atmospheric scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, said the major contributors to a worldwide circle of pollution were Los Angeles, Delhi, Bombay, Beijing and Cairo.
“Pollution in the eastern United States can go in four or five days to Europe and in a week it goes from Europe to South Asia. This is fast transport which converts a local problem into a regional and global problem,” the Indian scientist said.
He and the UNEP have ditched the reference to Asia, now preferring “Atmospheric Brown Cloud” or just "Brown Cloud," he said. ...

Fat children ‘suffer more from air pollution’ June 1, 2004.
“Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, found fat youngsters five times more likely to be vulnerable to traffic fumes and industrial smog.”

Blair put obesity on back burner May 28, 2004.
“...
It emerged yesterday that the previous Conservative government had identified the health problems from an increasingly overweight population in a white paper published in 1992.
...
The paper described obesity as a clear risk factor for both cancer and coronary heart disease-stroke, and was “therefore an important indicator which is being kept under review”.
...”

Car fumes ‘may cause one in six cot deaths’ May 18, 2004.
“Soot from combustion is already linked with lung disease, asthma and a rise in deaths from cardiovascular disease.
Now scientists have linked the tiny pollutant particles with 16 per cent of unexplained deaths among babies of normal birth weight.”

‘Don’t sleep with your baby’ is new cot death advice May 11, 2004.
“Parents are being advised by the Department of Health not to sleep in the same bed as their baby.
...
The leaflet [from The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID)] also emphasises the risk of sleeping in bed with a baby if you are a smoker, even if you never smoke in bed....
...”

Obesity ‘will top smoking as main cause of cancer’ April, 6, 2004.
“Obesity could overtake smoking as the most common preventable cause of cancer in Britain within 10 years, scientists said yesterday.
A third of all cancers will be linked to excess fat by the middle of the next decade unless the obesity epidemic can be halted, they predicted.
The warning came as Cancer Research UK said that most people were unaware of the connection. It called for action to spread the message that excess fat was not just “extra padding” but “metabolically active tissue” that increased cancer risks.
...
Studies have shown that being overweight increases the risk of cancer of the breast, womb, kidney, bowel and oesophagus.
...”

Public health warnings ‘not working’ February 26, 2004.
“Public exhortations to stop smoking, lose weight and take more exercise will not work, a major report on the nation’s health has concluded.
Individuals, business and Government all had a role to play in taking responsibility for public health, its author said.
...
It found that reduced levels of exercise were costing the economy £8.2 billion a year because of lost working days and NHS treatments.
...”

Lawsuit Challenges Off Road Emissions Rules January 8, 2003.

Haze obscures mountain view February 5, 2002.
“...
The haze is a familiar winter feature along the Wasatch Front, the string of urban and suburban valleys on the west slope of the Rocky Mountains. Most of the pollution comes from motor vehicle exhaust. Temperature inversions can trap that smog for a week or two at a time.”
...
The Sierra Club, a critic of Olympic planners for using thousands of higher-polluting sport-utility vehicles, urged Utah drivers Tuesday to cut back for the competitors’ sake.
...

CHOKING US TO DEATH
The Air Pollution Crisis and Its Effects on Bicycle Couriers
A report by the Toronto Hoof and Cycle Courier Coalition
May 1999