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05-01-2008, 01:01 AM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Jul 2007
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Pittsburgh overtakes Los Angeles as "sootiest city" in America
Report from USA Today
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"It's not that Pittsburgh has gotten worse; it's that Los Angeles has gotten better," Nolen said. "If the trend continues, Pittsburgh will top two lists, and LA will only be leading the nation in ozone."
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What can Pittsburgh do to improve alongside other cities?
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05-01-2008, 06:43 AM
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Central Northside
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Here's the Post-gazette's take on the ranking.
Welcome (back) to 'Smoky City'? |
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05-01-2008, 08:05 AM
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Join Date: May 2007
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According to the Post-Gazette article, the primary problem is the Clairton Coke Works, and the rest of the region without including Liberty-Clairton would only rank 16th in soot (which is not really bad for a city of Pittsburgh's size and climate conditions). Moreover, the region only ranks 34th in ground-level ozone, a drop from 17th two years ago.
That said, to keep pace with other cities Pittsburgh will need to keep improving on emissions from vehicles, power plants, and so on. Things like more (and cleaner) public transit would help as well.
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05-01-2008, 12:09 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Point Breeze
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tablemtn
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Heh! I knew that this would be one of the first threads this morning! (I don't have an answer for this problem, though...) |
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05-01-2008, 12:59 PM
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King of the Ice and Snow!
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Pittsburgh, the Iron City!!!
775 posts, read 705,170 times
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Pittsburgh is similar to Mexico City, in that it is largely situated in a valley, surrounded by mountains, so the air tends to remain in "the bowl", rather than spread farther eastward....
Some soot & pollution escapes, to be sure, but alot more remains in the local vicinity than, say, in Omaha....... where the ground is flatter than Twiggy's chest... 
I don't see how the area can exactly bulldoze the mountains or anything, so the only other alternative, is a long-term plan to "green up" the industries and shut down all polluters... which is about as likely to happen as Hillary voting for John McCain in november... |
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05-01-2008, 01:05 PM
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Not a member
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Join Date: Aug 2007
2,026 posts, read 1,671,328 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tablemtn
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here's a typical sooty day - which honestly, I haven't seen a whole lot of, but evidently they are there. 
I was surprised Phoenix didn't make the list with our lovely "brown cloud." Must be a different type of pollution.
Last edited by londonbarcelona; 05-01-2008 at 01:06 PM..
Reason: typo
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05-01-2008, 01:38 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: May 2007
Location: Reside in Pittsburgh, work is based in western US
388 posts, read 277,110 times
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Pittsburgh is the collection spot for airborne pollution from the coal fired power plants all along the Ohio Valley, Northern Indiana and Southern Michgan. The upper air pattern is just right for Pittsburgh to recieve much of this 'soot' Even a north wind can bring down the pollution from Southern Ontario. Once the airborne particles encounter the slower lower level winds and geographical makeup of WPA we get that white-blueish haze that shrouds the sun.
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05-01-2008, 01:52 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Nov 2007
268 posts, read 235,375 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by londonbarcelona
here's a typical sooty day - which honestly, I haven't seen a whole lot of, but evidently they are there.
I was surprised Phoenix didn't make the list with our lovely "brown cloud." Must be a different type of pollution. |
This picture is a joke. ABCnews.com has this on thier site. First off, that is 3 rivers stadium which has been gone for quite a while. Secondly, it is during a steeler game, in the winter on a rainy, foggy day. Showing that picture and implying that is smog/pollution is irresponsible journalism.... |
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05-01-2008, 04:30 PM
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2,026 posts, read 1,671,328 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by raynist
This picture is a joke. ABCnews.com has this on thier site. First off, that is 3 rivers stadium which has been gone for quite a while. Secondly, it is during a steeler game, in the winter on a rainy, foggy day. Showing that picture and implying that is smog/pollution is irresponsible journalism....
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There you have it! Damn journalists! I didn't even notice the stadium... I was just posting the pircture they included with the story. Sure am glad I didn't say I agreed....................  |
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05-01-2008, 06:21 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Mar 2008
229 posts, read 183,117 times
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Dude that's fog! wtf.
Pittsburgh was ranked the 17th cleanest city in the world on some other list. I don't put too much stock into these lists, you can manipulate stats to prove whatever you want (within reason).
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