On 4 Feb 2004 at 8:47, Michael Edelman wrote: > > From: "Michael Daly" <michaeldaly_at_rogers.com> > > On 3 Feb 2004 at 15:28, Steve Brown wrote: > > > >>> I think the air is generally clean enough, > > > > Based on the wrong information. It's filthy and getting worse > > every year. > > Assertions like the one above, without data to back them up, are > misleading at best and at worst, make it very difficult to make > further progress. Both the air and water today are *much* cleaner > than they were 20 years ago, thanks to various regulations and > programs. Using information incorrectly doesn't clear up the issue. Come paddling with me and I'll show you the pollution. You don't even have to look up any data. One of the most beautiful paddling areas in the world is Georgian Bay, part of Lake Huron. Here are a couple of photos I took two years ago during a week long trip from the town of Killarney to Bing Inlet. <http://members.rogers.com/michaeldaly2/georgianBaySkies.htm> On the left is a photo looking north into Killarney Provincial Park on a cool clear morning. The sky is a lovely blue. The hills in the background are La Cloche Range - the white patches are gleaming quartzite. This is the Laurentian Shield at its best. Canoeing in the park puts you pretty close to those hills and the sparkling white stone contrasting with the dark green of the evergreen trees and the pale blue of the lakes is something to behold. Kayaking outside the park puts you into a world of small islands and spectacular views. On the right is a photo of an island campsite a couple of days paddle from Killarney. This photo was taken on a hot, muggy day. Not much scenery - the expanse to the south is over 100km of water. Note the color of the sky. That's not a touched-up photo, nor is it a trick of the light. You are looking at smog - a couple of hundred kilometers north of Ontario's industrial areas. If you look into the EPA document you referenced, you'll find that oxides of nitrogen are on the increase. NOx does nasty things - the same EPA web site shows some: <http://www.epa.gov/air/urbanair/nox/hlth.html> When I was born the term was rarely used. Smog alerts when I started paddling in university were rare - a few per year. I remember returning to the city in those days - the smog was a dome over the city; you could escape it by going into the country. Nowadays, we get dozens of smog alerts per year. The smog covers all of south-eastern Canada and the north-east US in a single giant cloud. The local Weather Channel broadcasts a map showing its extent on the worst days. No more escaping - as the photo on my web site demonstrates. NOx also contributes to acid rain. Come paddle with me - I'll show you the lakes throughout northern Canada that have been damaged or killed by acid rain. It is a problem that accumulates - the Laurention Shield doesn't provide the minerals that can buffer the acid and the rain is more acidic every year. Come paddle with me and I'll show you the areas that were once filled with fish and are now nearly barren. It's easy to see - one invasive species - the zebra mussel - has made the water much clearer. The fish in these areas can't be used as a regular source of food anymore. You can eat several servings per month, but more than that puts you at risk of poisoning. Clean water you say? Where? <http://www.on.ec.gc.ca/laws/tenth-ijc-response/threats-e.html> It's not just the Great Lakes - the recent warnings on salmon should tell you something. The EPA web site notes that they only track six pollutants. What about the stuff they leave out? Two particle pollution types are tracked, but aerosols in general are not. Aerosols are having a significant effect on the planet: http://www.exn.ca/Stories/2004/02/10/53.asp Come paddle with me and I'll show you plants that are at risk - more heat (global warming from CO2 - another untracked pollutant) combined with less insolation are damaging some species. Come with me to the Canadian Arctic - great kayaking there! Global warming is changing the arctic environment more than the land where we live. Come see the polar bears struggling to get food as their polar ice cover is disappearing. Come meet the Inuit women who's breast milk is so loaded with industrial pollutants that doctors and nurses are afraid to recommend that they breast-feed their children. Water cleaner than ever, you say? Really? Maybe in your backyard! Come paddle in waters being invaded by warm water species so foreign that Inuktitut words for them don't exist. If you paddle in the real world, you'll see what the numbers don't always tell you - we're destroying the planet. I stand by my comment - the air is filthy and getting filthier ever year. You provided some of the numbers that prove it. Since you brought up water - ditto. Mike *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
My wife and I are terribly torn up by air pollution so we've spent quite a bit of time on EPA's website understanding what is happening. As a general rule, bad areas are getting better as the pollution controls go into effect. Unfortunately, good areas are getting worse or at least more rare. There are very few areas that do not see an EPA Unhealthy rating at least once throughout the year. This is a good site to see what the EPA thinks of where you live: http://www.epa.gov/airnow/where/ *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Jim wrote: - >bad areas are getting better as the pollution >controls go into effect. Unfortunately, good >areas are getting worse or at least more rare. G'Day Jim and Paddlewise, Here are a couple of web sites from CSIRO where I work. They show the data from Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station in north-western Tasmania http://www.dar.csiro.au/capegrim/ghgasgraphs.html. I'm not an atmospheric scientist but found it interesting to see that several of the greenhouse gases are increasing while the ozone depleting gases seem to have started to decrease or plateau at around the date the Montreal protocol was implemented. Also while CO2 is increasing the C13 component is decreasing. Seems to be evidence for mans power to impact the atmosphere. What does this have to do with safe kayaking? Well in Australia the weather bureau is sufficiently concerned about UV exposure, that it broadcasts a UV index warning along with its weather warnings. And most kayakers here take very good care to wear clothing and cream that protects against UV and the dangers of skin cancer. For a picture of the beautiful Cape Grim and background information on ozone depletion and UV radiation see http://www.dar.csiro.au/capegrim/index.html(which All the best, PeterO *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
> What does this have to do with safe kayaking? Well in Australia the > weather > bureau is sufficiently concerned about UV exposure, that it broadcasts a > UV > index warning along with its weather warnings. And most kayakers here take > very good care to wear clothing and cream that protects against UV and the > dangers of skin cancer. They do the same here in S.E. Virginia. Only, due to the proximity to Virginia Beach and the North Carolina Outer Banks, they refer to it as the "Tanning Index". We do get regular UV readings in all months except Winter. I wonder if I should skip the SPF 30 and just lather myself up in some good ole 303? Yet another way for me and my plastic boat to bond. Do you think I could find some coconut scented 303? Rick *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:36 PDT