Describe air quality conditions in the US before steep regulations were imposed.
The United States has experienced the worst air quality conditions during the 1940s and 1950s as an effect of the progressing industrialization and urbanization. Another main reason is that the United States has no national regulation and policy towards hazardous gas emission and air pollution during these periods of time. During the 1940s and 1950s, the United States have experienced deadly photochemical smog on major cities including Los Angeles and Donora(Williams, 2013). In addition, the ozone levels in the lower layers of the atmosphere exceed its limit and become dangerous to people as well as the environment. During this period of time, the Clean Air Act is not yet implemented.
According to Jack Williams (2013), the condition of the air before the steep regulations were imposed could be comparable to the modern day air pollution problem of China. During the 1940s, a deadly photochemical smog covered the atmosphere of Donora which could be recognized like the modern day cities in China. People living near the town could experience difficulty in breathing due to the thick smoke coming from industrial plants and factories (Williams, 2013). These air pollution problems led to the establishment of the Clean Air Act of 1963. The government of the United States saw the devastating effects of the air pollution through the thick photochemical smog and the high ozone levels in the lower layers of the atmosphere within the cities.
How do air quality conditions today compare to the conditions in the past? That is, what are the successes of emission standards, if any?
Compare to the air quality conditions of the 1940s and the 1950s, the air quality conditions in the modern times is better. In general, the air quality conditions greatly improved after the implementation of the Clean Air Act during the 1960s.
Today, the cities such as Donora and Los Angeles are not covered in photochemical smog. In addition, the ozone level at the lower layers of the atmosphere is low compared from the air conditions from the past. In general, one of the main successes of the emission standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency is the lowering of air pollutants (Datz, 2012).
According to Todd Datz (2012), the air pollution levels in the United States have been declining since the implementation of the emission standards of the Clean Air Act. In addition, the decrease in the air pollution levels in major urban areas also improved the life expectancy in the United States. According to their studies, there has been a decrease of about 10 micrograms per cubic meter of fine particulate matter which is one of the most hazardous components of air pollutants.
Explain the weather folklore “If birds fly low, then rain we shall know”.
This weather folklore is used by farmers in the past to predict a rain, a storm, winter or any weather condition associated to low pressure.Farmers from the past believed that there is rain or storm that is approaching to their area when the birds are flying low in the sky. In the modern times, experts concluded that birds fly low when rain or storm is coming due to the low atmospheric pressure(Adams, 2013). Flying at the higher altitudes could be difficult for birds when the air pressure decrease. It is known that decreasing air pressure is one of the phenomena which cause rain and other types of weather condition.
During the low air pressure condition, air tends to become “heavier”. Birds tend fly a low level since flying at higher altitude where air is at lower pressure could be difficult for them. Experts also concluded that birds could hurt their ear when they fly at higher altitude during low pressure air condition(Adams, 2013). This is also the case of jet pilots when they reached higher altitudes. Lastly, birds tend to fly low during low air pressure condition to hunt insects which also flying at lower level for the same reason.
Severe thunderstorms are weather conditions characterized by deadly lighting, heavy rain, large hail, tornadoes and damaging wind. One of the most basic safety rules in case of a severe thunder storm is to stay inside a sturdy building (National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, N.d.). One should cancel all outside activities in case a severe thunderstorm warning is issued within the area. A severe thunderstorm could be easily detected by reliable weather station and they could report warnings to the possible areas which could be in danger.
Staying inside a sturdy building could protect people from the damaged caused deadly lightning and strong winds. People could also be protected from flooding rains and large hail when they stay inside their homes. During a severe thunderstorm, there is lots of debris which are carried away by strong winds which could kill or injure people such as branches of trees and roofs.
Electrical wires could also break during a thunderstorm due to the heavy winds and could produce a live wire which could endanger the lives of people (National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, N.d.). Thunderstorms commonly last for hours and people could wait for these weather conditions to end before going out of the building. People are also advised to stay at sturdy buildings in order to avoid the aftermath of the severe thunderstorms such as diseases from flood and fire (National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, N.d.).
Reference
Adams, C. (2013). A forgotten skill: Weather prediction. The Prepper Journal. Retrieved from http://www.theprepperjournal.com/2013/02/28/a-forgotten-skill-weather-prediction/.
Datz, T. (2012). Declining air pollution levels continue to improve life expectancy in U.S.. Harvard School of Public Health. Retrieved from https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/air-pollution-improve-life-expectancy-us/.
National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office. (N.d.). Severe thunderstorms are possible. Retrieved from http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bmx/?n=sps_svrsafetyrules.
Williams, J. (2013). U.S. once had air pollution to match China’s today. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/10/25/u-s-once-had-air-pollution-to-match-chinas-today/.
