Clean Air... Poison Water

     So many Utah citizens are excited for the prospect of rain or snow to clear out the smog in the air. Unfortunately, this does not mean it's really gone and not a problem anymore, it just means that the problem has taken on a new form; the rain or the snow. The well known term for this is "Acid Rain". It is a relief to have cleaner air and clearer landscapes but we still need to be on guard for the harmful chemicals that are now in our water supply and have seeped into our ground. For example, those who are excited for spring to come so they can garden and grow their own food are especially in danger of this acid rain watering their plants and becoming part of their food. No matter what form this pollution takes it is a great hazard.

These are two photos that I took when I was coming down the mountain from Little Cottonwood Canyon after a day of skiing just to get out of the inversion. The top one is the one that grosses me out the most, the fact that you can't see the valley because of the blanket of smog makes me start coughing every time I see it.
I've been skiing basically all of my life and every time I come down from skiing this is the view that I see of the valley. But not until I was about 15 years old did I understand what that funny "fog" was. I think that it's really important for every one to know what this is. But until people get up into the mountains they won't realize how much the smog has really settled in on the valley and how all areas of the valley are affected. Next time a storm comes around I want to be sure to take a picture of the valley to show that although Salt Lake Valley is cleared out there is still smog in the surrounding Tooele/Grantsville area near the Oquirrh mountains, because although our valley is clear other people are still affected. It's not just our problem anymore, we are making it a problem for other people. And it needs to stop.

Wow, Kiersten. These are just terrifying when you juxtapose them. I think this pic should go viral. Maybe someone will pick it up off the blog. Maybe you should also post it to the "Clean Air, No Excuses" site.

Salt Lake City vs. Park City

Whenever I emerge from the canyon heading to Salt Lake City, I can't help but notice how awful the air looks.  At least when we are in the valley and level with the smog, we often don't notice a physical difference in the air around us.  But when we can compare the air blanketing the city to the peaks of the mountains, it makes the inversion problem seem all the more disgusting.
Though I know it probably wasn't the smartest move, I took a picture of Salt Lake (top) near the mouth of the canyon when I was driving on the highway.  You can't see "the line" of smog as well as you can in other pictures, but the fact that you can only see the very tops of the mountains is worrisome.  Then, I took the bottom picture when I was skiing in Park City.  I promise, neither of these photos are edited.
I know that Park City and Salt Lake are different in that Salt Lake's location in a valley sets a significant precedent for bad inversion, but I know that we as a city can come up with some solutions to at least diminish this smog.

The organizers of the rally are onto a t-shirt idea. Maybe would should propose our design--the one Kiersten and Emily came up with. How cool would it be to see everyone walking around with that on? Is anyone game?


https://www.facebook.com/events/1428912344008930/permalink/1438233373076827/

Ugh!

Webcam Picture of Our City at 3:54 pm... (From DEQ website)

Somewhere inside this smog, we are all inhaling this yellowish gunk...

OK... This picture is obviously changing constantly as I directly inserted the image URL.  So what you see now is no longer the one I posted at 3:54 pm.  It is now a live Web cam image of the city that is updated by the hour. Very cool to see! 

"Dirty Laundry"

You may be interested in this report on the connection between major clothing brands and toxic water pollution in China, similar to many stories you've read in "When a Billion Chinese Jump."

http://chinasmog.wordpress.com/2012/05/08/fashion-designers-make-us-pretty-but-get-children-sick-3/

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/publications/reports/Dirty-Laundry/

"A new air quality rating system?"

From "Beijing-SLC Connected" Twitter-- A new air quality rating system?

Smog in China

A few interesting pictures from some Chinese websites

"Utah forecast: A bit of a smog break, but inversions strengthening ahead" (on today's Salt Lake Tribune)

Discouraging to see news like this --

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/57436894-78/utah-weather-forecast-http.html.csp

A petition worthy of our consideration:
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/utah-clean-air-no-excuses?source=c.em.cp&r_by=1872730

This just in with a great, if terrifying photo of the density of the soup today:

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/57395042-90/quality-pollution-utah-lake.html.csp

Athletes for Clean Air

More people getting involved: Athletes for Clean Air.  And a survey.

Maybe it will spark some ideas!

Rallying for cleaner air

On January 25th our team will do its first public action by joining Clean Air, No Excuses, which promises to be the largest rally for the quality of our air in SLC's history: https://www.facebook.com/events/1428912344008930/?ref_dashboard_filter=calendar

What will we say? What will we sing? How will we make our mark?