Smog

MOSCOW — The poisonous smog that contributed to a higher death rate in Moscow last week returned to Russia’s capital yesterday, officials said. The concentration of carbon monoxide in Moscow air was more than five times what is considered normal, said Alexey Popikov of weather monitors Mosecomonitoring. In addition, “The level of hydrocarbon emissions — the substances that give the air this unpleasant smell — was 5.5 times higher than the usual Moscow level this morning,’’ he said, adding that by today winds will disperse most of the smog.

KENNETH KIMMELL, commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, presents an important wakeup call for the residents of the Commonwealth in his Dec. 17 op-ed "Cleaning the air. " We need strong federal standards to protect us from secondhand smog blowing in from other states and toxic air from outdated power plants. As a pediatrician who takes care of many children with asthma and other forms of lung disease, I see the problem every day. Kimmell's phrase that the Northeast is considered the "tailpipe of the United States" is disgustingly...

WASHINGTON - Hundreds of communities far from congested highways and belching smokestacks could soon join America’s big cities and industrial corridors in violation of stricter limits on lung-damaging smog proposed yesterday by the Obama administration. The costs of compliance could be in the tens of billions of dollars, but the government said the rules would save billions - and lives - in the long run. More than 300 counties - mainly in the Northeast, Southern California, and the Gulf Coast - already violate the current, looser requirements the Bush administration adopted two...

WASHINGTON - Environmental groups sued the Obama administration yesterday for delaying a stricter limit for smog-forming pollution, saying the decision violated the law and put politics ahead of protecting public health. The lawsuit filed in the federal appeals court in Washington by four environmental and public health groups came after the White House said last month that it would not support setting a new standard for ground-level ozone until 2013, outraging environmentalists.

GRANTS PASS, Ore. - Ozone blowing over from Asia is raising background levels of a major ingredient of smog in the skies over California, Oregon, Washington, and other Western states, according to a new study appearing in today’s edition of the journal Nature. The amounts are small and, so far, found only in a region of the atmosphere known as the free troposphere, at an altitude of 2 to 5 miles, but the development could complicate US efforts to control air pollution. Though small, the levels have risen steadily since 1995, and probably longer, said Owen R. Cooper, lead author and...

WASHINGTON -- Ozone levels are falling sharply in Eastern states where smog has been a recurring summer problem, the Environmental Protection Agency said yesterday. The improvement in air quality for a third of the nation's population is due to fewer emissions of nitrogen oxides from hundreds of coal-burning power plants, manufacturing, and other large facilities in 19 Eastern states. Ozone occurs naturally in the stratosphere, where it is a shield against harmful ultraviolet rays.

PRESIDENT OBAMA'S rejection of tighter controls on ozone, or smog, emissions is deeply disappointing ("Obama abandons tougher ozone standard," Page A2, Sept. 3). As a pediatrician, I view it as bad medicine for our most vulnerable patients, including children, the elderly, and those suffering from lung diseases. Breathing smog-polluted air can lead to coughing and wheezing, restricted airways, and even death. In a time of trying to reduce health care costs, this will result in more hospitalizations and visits to emergency rooms.

KENNETH KIMMELL, commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, presents an important wakeup call for the residents of the Commonwealth in his Dec. 17 op-ed "Cleaning the air. " We need strong federal standards to protect us from secondhand smog blowing in from other states and toxic air from outdated power plants. As a pediatrician who takes care of many children with asthma and other forms of lung disease, I see the problem every day. Kimmell's phrase that the Northeast is considered the "tailpipe of the United States" is disgustingly...

MOSCOW — A miasma of smoke from wildfires cloaked the sweltering Russian capital yesterday, turning the city’s spires into ominous blurs and grounding flights while glum pedestrians trudged the streets with faces hidden by surgical masks and water-soaked bandanas. The smoke crept into many buildings, hovering around the ceiling in entryways. The State Historical Museum on Red Square was forced to close because it could not stop its smoke detectors from going off. Airborne pollutants such as carbon monoxide were four times higher than average readings — the worst to date in...

The first album in 16 years from troubled genius Gil Scott-Heron is dark and eerie, full of mysterious electronic effects, clanging percussions, and ominous chords. On the surface, it’s nothing like Scott-Heron’s classic work from the 1970s and ’80s, which cloaked searing messages of social liberation in some of the funkiest soul-jazz ever made, with musical partner Brian Jackson and a tight acoustic band. “I’m New Here’’ is a different beast. The idea of indie maven Richard Russell of XL Recordings, who suggested it while visiting Scott-Heron during a recent...

PRESIDENT OBAMA'S rejection of tighter controls on ozone, or smog, emissions is deeply disappointing ("Obama abandons tougher ozone standard," Page A2, Sept. 3). As a pediatrician, I view it as bad medicine for our most vulnerable patients, including children, the elderly, and those suffering from lung diseases. Breathing smog-polluted air can lead to coughing and wheezing, restricted airways, and even death. In a time of trying to reduce health care costs, this will result in more hospitalizations and visits to emergency rooms.

WASHINGTON - The White House is engaged in an intense debate over how much it should tighten national smog standards, an issue that has sparked a battle between business and public health groups. The Environmental Protection Agency is preparing to issue the final rules,which were delayed three times last year and again late last month. As the Office of Management and Budget reviews the agency's proposal, which was submitted July 11, business groups have joined many state and local officials in launching a concerted push to delay any new standards until 2013.

MOSCOW — The poisonous smog that contributed to a higher death rate in Moscow last week returned to Russia’s capital yesterday, officials said. The concentration of carbon monoxide in Moscow air was more than five times what is considered normal, said Alexey Popikov of weather monitors Mosecomonitoring. In addition, “The level of hydrocarbon emissions — the substances that give the air this unpleasant smell — was 5.5 times higher than the usual Moscow level this morning,’’ he said, adding that by today winds will disperse most of the smog.

MOSCOW — A miasma of smoke from wildfires cloaked the sweltering Russian capital yesterday, turning the city’s spires into ominous blurs and grounding flights while glum pedestrians trudged the streets with faces hidden by surgical masks and water-soaked bandanas. The smoke crept into many buildings, hovering around the ceiling in entryways. The State Historical Museum on Red Square was forced to close because it could not stop its smoke detectors from going off. Airborne pollutants such as carbon monoxide were four times higher than average readings — the...

The first album in 16 years from troubled genius Gil Scott-Heron is dark and eerie, full of mysterious electronic effects, clanging percussions, and ominous chords. On the surface, it’s nothing like Scott-Heron’s classic work from the 1970s and ’80s, which cloaked searing messages of social liberation in some of the funkiest soul-jazz ever made, with musical partner Brian Jackson and a tight acoustic band. “I’m New Here’’ is a different beast. The idea of indie maven Richard Russell of XL Recordings, who suggested it while visiting Scott-Heron during a recent...

GRANTS PASS, Ore. - Ozone blowing over from Asia is raising background levels of a major ingredient of smog in the skies over California, Oregon, Washington, and other Western states, according to a new study appearing in today’s edition of the journal Nature. The amounts are small and, so far, found only in a region of the atmosphere known as the free troposphere, at an altitude of 2 to 5 miles, but the development could complicate US efforts to control air pollution. Though small, the levels have risen steadily since 1995, and probably longer, said Owen R. Cooper, lead author and...

ARVIN, Calif. -- Lying in a rich agricultural region dotted with vineyards and orange groves, this central California community seems an unlikely place for a dubious distinction: the most polluted air in America. Hemmed in by mountains, Arvin is the final destination for pollutants from cities as far away as San Francisco Bay, and its wheezing residents are paying the price. Many of them complain the air smells toxic. "It's common for people here to say, 'I'm going to the beach so I can breathe,' " said Raji Brar, a city councilor and member of the board that oversees the San Joaquin...

WASHINGTON - Short-term exposure to smog, or ozone, is clearly linked to premature deaths that should be taken into account when measuring the health benefits of reducing air pollution, a National Academy of Sciences report concluded yesterday. The findings contradict arguments made by some White House officials that the connection between smog and premature death has not been shown sufficiently, and that the number of saved lives should not be calculated in determining the benefits of clean air. The report by a panel of the academy's National Research...

WASHINGTON - Hundreds of communities far from congested highways and belching smokestacks could soon join America’s big cities and industrial corridors in violation of stricter limits on lung-damaging smog proposed yesterday by the Obama administration. The costs of compliance could be in the tens of billions of dollars, but the government said the rules would save billions - and lives - in the long run. More than 300 counties - mainly in the Northeast, Southern California, and the Gulf Coast - already violate the current, looser requirements the Bush administration adopted two...

CHICAGO - Researchers for the first time have linked air pollution exposure before birth with lower IQ scores in childhood, bolstering evidence that smog may harm the developing brain. The results are in a study of 249 children of New York City women who wore backpack air monitors for 48 hours during the last few months of pregnancy. They lived in mostly low-income neighborhoods in northern Manhattan and the South Bronx. They had varying levels of exposure to typical kinds of urban air pollution, mostly from car, bus, and truck exhaust.