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Sure is windy today in Elephant Butte, what about your town?
A MISERABLE F______G DAY here in the tall pines. In the 13 years I've lived here full time, this is the worst dust storm by far that I've experienced - photos attached showing two zoomed views. Hard to tell without being familiar just how dense the dust is, but normally there is much more visible beyond the tree line showing in the photos.
Huh? This is the second thread where you alleged that Albuquerque has an air pollution problem. This isn't true at all. The idea that ABQ could pollute El Paso, 230 miles to the south, is laughable. If the wind was blowing hard enough to get any pollution from here to there, it would all be dispersed long before it arrived there. And ABQ has no big industrial air pollution sources, which are what can get carried downwind a long ways.
El Paso does have a neighbor that's polluting it - Ciudad Juárez, right across the border. But it's certainly not Albuquerque.
While I doubt that we make a difference in the pollution of El Paso, it would be possible. To think that air pollution would "dispersed" in 230 miles is crazy. In fact, pollution and sands from China get carried to the United States every year and that is a journey of thousands of miles.
While I doubt that we make a difference in the pollution of El Paso, it would be possible. To think that air pollution would "dispersed" in 230 miles is crazy. In fact, pollution and sands from China get carried to the United States every year and that is a journey of thousands of miles.
High altitude air pollution such as from China to the US is a whole different beast then urban air pollution such as Phoenix has and ABQ doesn't. Dust and pollution sometimes travel from China to the US vis systems the experts call “warm conveyor belts.” These conveyor belts occur when cold air contacts warm air, driving the warmer air—and any pollution it’s carrying—upwards. Pollution and dust can also travel with passing storms, circling the globe on the jet stream 10 miles up, until gravity or other weather systems force them to descend.
ABQ doesn't have the industrial sources to put such pollution into the upper atmosphere. Given the absence of strong air pollution sources in ABQ, it's crazy to think that pollution would carry 200+ miles away in any signficant concentrations. Also, the conveyor belts described above don't generally occur in NM. And given general air flow patterns in the state, if anything El Paso's air pollution would come this way, not the other way around.
Quote:
Originally Posted by red46
Speaking as one who has watched this city grow into a grotesque spectacle over the past 50 years, and remembering that in 1950 you could stand on the crest and clearly see all the way to CO, the grey cloud over Albuquerque is obscene.
I don't disagree at all with red46 that urban haze in ABQ is a lot worse than it was back in the 50s; as he said that's a consequence of the growth the area has had since then. But ABQ doesn't have an air quality problem anywhere near Phoenix's, so I think his comment in another thread about Phoenix and ABQ having air quality that is "about the same" could be terribly misleading to someone that hasn't visited here and doesn't know any better.
Quote:
Originally Posted by red46
Where you're from God only knows.
I'm from Alaska originally and I still think of it as home, and I know exactly what red46 is talking about when he decries the bad impacts of growth - I've seen a lot of it at home. But saying the air quality here is not good and that we pollute El Paso just doesn't match the reality. While the air quality isn't as good as it used to be, it's still a lot better than most other places in the US. Saying otherwise on the forum doesn't do a service to folks that come here looking for accurate information on what ABQ is like.
I'm wondering when it's going to let up? Yes, the mountains are hard to see. My power went out today briefly, wind must have taken down a power line somewhere.
Ruidoso's "official" weather station at the airport recorded several gusts of over 70mph in the afternoon, with a peak gust of 77mph. That's more than hurricane speed! No wonder the dirt was flying!! According to Fri (this) morning's paper, there was little reported serious damage, so that's a plus and rather amazing, considering.
Did anyone in the Tularosa/Alamgordo/Las Cruces area witness the rocket firing this morning at 7am?
I saw it live on the NASA web site. It must have looked pretty spectacular to those in the area who saw it first hand. I was most surprised by the bright orange plume the rocket spewed as it lifted off. I've seen that same propellant before in smaller rocket tests at White Sands Missile Range.
Information on the test firing can be found by googling on "Orion Rocket" or "escape capsule test." Or here:
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