by Andy Fell | Oct 11, 2021 | Environment, Features, The Big Question

In the narrative of the “Tragedy of the Commons”,(1,2) a shared grazing area (aka common pool resource(3)) is trampled into overgrazed ruin by a pervasion of actors who exploit the resource more quickly than can be sustainably allotted. Regardless of whether there is consciousness of guilt, this is theft.

Particulate matter (PM) affects visibility, climate, and public health. Organic matter (OM), a uniquely complex portion of PM, can make up more than half of total atmospheric fine PM mass.

Year after year California has seen some of the largest and most deadly wildfires, not only by acreage burned, but by also by hazardous air quality. The smoke has turned some cities in neighboring state’s air quality into the dirties in the world, including outside of the state.

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Last week, Michael S. Regan, Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency, announced that the EPA will reconsider strengthening the limits and standards for fine particulate matter.

Earth Day is this Thursday, April 22 and to help reporters develop stories about air quality monitoring, modeling and evaluation, the Air Quality Research Center is here with a few researchers and educators to support the sharing of knowledge. 

Research Engineer, Air Quality Research Center (AQRC)

Research Interests:

Over 111 million metric tons of CO2 were emitted by wildfires in California for the 2020 year. The transportation sector is the only area to have emitted more carbon dioxide at over 169 million metric tons. While from the outset, that looks pretty bad, you may still wonder, "In actuality, how bad is the wildfire smoke for Climate Change?"

In an interview with the SF Chronical, AQRC Director, Tony Wexler, stated that the wildfire carbon emissions are of almost no concern for him in relation to climate change.

NOAA/NASA's Suomi NPP Satellite captured the above image of both aerosols traveling the US and hurricanes heading towards the US. Read their full write up of the image posted on September 15, 2020 below.

NOAA/NASA