PGAQ #10 (FP) by Vic Steblin, Jan 24, 2008

2570 Laurier Crescent, Prince George, BC, 250-564-1123

I once read that there are about as many particles in one deep breath as there are number of breaths in our entire atmosphere. Thus one could imagine, after a couple of thousand years of diffusion, there would be at least one particle from Caesars’s last breath in your lungs right now. Keeping that principle in mind, how many particles from China’s industry are in your lungs right now? That number is overwhelmed by the second-hand smoke from a nearby cigarette. The particles from China are also overwhelmed by a nearby candle.

Where do particles in the air eventually go? Do the heavier particles settle out first like in a river delta? Does rain eventually wash out the lighter ones? Does the road dust stirred up in the spring actually get up to the upper atmosphere like volcanic ash? Does raking up the lawn sand from beside the road actually have much effect on air quality? And should anyone actually care about particles as long as they blow away?

If we truly care about air quality we should stop making so many particles. We should stop blowing around particles with lawn mowers and leaf blowers. We should stop burning anything. We should stop burning any of the waste from mills, even for supposed clean power generation. We may not have much influence on natural events or on other countries, but surely we can try to make our local air cleaner.