An article in Scientific American focuses on the unlikely topic of visibility in Alabama. As in how far can you see from any given point.
Folks who lived in the Birmingham area back in the day may remember this kind of visibility...or invisibility:
The article credits the drop in coal burning by utilities as one of the causes for the improved visibility. Whatever the cause, is anyone complaining? Other than the coal industry, that is.
"Human-caused aerosol outweighs natural sources, according to NASA, but levels have been declining........... visibility over a national forest improved an estimated 3.4 percent per year from 2001 to 2013..."
Folks who lived in the Birmingham area back in the day may remember this kind of visibility...or invisibility:
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| I took this picture in 1976 from a helicopter. Gulp! That's U.S. Steel sending emissions into the air. |
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| An Alabama Power plant in Greene County, about to be converted to natural gas. |
The article credits the drop in coal burning by utilities as one of the causes for the improved visibility. Whatever the cause, is anyone complaining? Other than the coal industry, that is.
"Decreased sulfur dioxide emissions (from coal) means more than more vibrant sunsets: the particles have been linked to health problems, such as asthma and heart disease, and play a role in altering the Earth’s climate."Scientific American
I remember when I was in college at Samford in the mid-1970's and I'd find these strange deposits on my car. I was told that they were from the steel mill emissions from the other side of town. And then there is the old saying from back in the day when you could smell those emissions downtown and some would say, "Smells like money today!"
ReplyDeleteYes Charles....the late DJ Tommy Charles used to say it looked like jobs to him. (-:
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