In the Air Tonight...Whoa Oh

Journalistic truism #539: Headlines that reference 1980s pop songs draw in readers. Proof? Well, you're here, aren't you?

Just some musings about air pollution in honor of Thanksgiving. And no, I don't really get the connection, either.

First, CNN reports that five years worth of negotiations between state and local agencies and airports have failed to result in emissions cutbacks for airports. Some of 'em pump out more nitrogen oxides (NOX) than power plants. Sayeth C to the N to the N:

Specifically, the groups said the proposed nitrogen oxide emission standard for aircraft engines was not strong enough and excluded other pollutants, such as soot.

The officials also opposed excluding airports not in metropolitan areas that failed to meet EPA's clear air standards and were concerned there were few protections against "dumping" old equipment at non-participating airports.

Puts me in the mind of some of my favorite scientific research of all time (what, you don't have favorite research?), which took advantage of the empty skies after the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and DC. When the Federal Aviation Administration grounded US air traffic, the trails of mists and exhaust that jet planes leave behind also disappeared. A couple of enterprising climate scientists took advantage of that to try to find an effect on the weather. Here's a press release from one of the universities involved in the work, and here's a good Science News story. Explaineth Science to the News:

Wispy cirrus clouds are the only ones that form naturally at the high altitudes where jets cruise. These thin clouds slightly cool Earth's surface by blocking some incoming sunlight, but they moderately warm the lower atmosphere by trapping a portion of Earth's outbound infrared radiation. Scientists have suspected that contrails have similar but stronger effects.

Turns out they do. Think about that next time you're getting irradiated by cosmic rays on a daytime cross-country flight. (I knew a political operative -- Democratic, not that it matters -- who refused to fly during the day because he'd found out that a cross-country flight was the equivalent of getting a chest X-ray.)

And finally, if you're super interested in tracking pollution all over the country -- and you know you are -- the Environmental Protection Agency has just the Web site for you. AirData has maps and reports from every pollution reporting station in the United States. Mmm...statistics.