Asian smog reaching West Coast, UW researchers say
A new UW study indicates that about 10 percent of the ozone and other pollutants that hang over West Coast cities comes from the industrialized nations of East Asia.
“Our results show that Asian pollution is affecting much of the U.S. West Coast, with Washington and Oregon affected slightly more because of wind patterns,” says UW Bothell Science Professor Dan Jaffe.
The results came from a three-year project to measure pollutants in the atmosphere at the UW’s remote Cheeka Peak research station on the Olympic Peninsula. By combining industry’s known emissions of pollutants with such factors as wind speeds and direction, a computer model indicated that 10 percent of the ozone and carbon monoxide had blown across the Pacific Ocean from Asia. Both pollutants probably would have been considerably lower in Asia just 30 years ago, says Jaffe.
All the data analyzed in the computer model, he says, indicates an increasing flow of pollutants from industrialized Asia. “Despite the recent economic problems, Asia has been booming, and the spread of its pollutants is rapidly increasing,” he warns.