Why is it so smoggy today?

[metro]

Does anyone know why it is so smoggy/dirty looking in the air today. I'm looking out over downtown and Midtown and the air looks very very dirty compared to the usual.

[ksearls]

It's fog.....or maybe THE MIST!!! Ooohh scary!

The Mist

[BDP]

I think it's foggy, which traps the pollution and makes it more visible. Most people don't realize that Oklahoma City is one of the most polluted cities per capita, which makes sense since just about everyone drives their own car everyday. We just don't see it because we usually have clear skies, no mountains or other high structures to make it visible, and we're not in a valley. The only times we really notice is when it's foggy (which is one reason why LA is so bad: fog + valley + lots o cars = smog) or on really hot stagnant summer days.*

* I am not a meteorologist, so my technical explanation could be way off.

[jbrown84]

Are you sure about that BDP?

I thought we were like the largest city to meet EPA air-quality standards or something along those lines.

[CuatrodeMayo]

I did a google search and could not find evidence of one or the other.

[Misty]

This is from the Chamber's website:

Air Quality


The Central Oklahoma region is currently in compliance with all of the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) clean air standards. However, air quality has become a concern over the last year because the Central Oklahoma region is in danger of going into non-compliance with the federal clean air standards for ozone. Last summer, Central Oklahoma had several ozone readings that exceeded the federal standard. If these high ozone readings persist next summer, the region will likely go into non-attainment status.

A non-attainment status results in severe impediments to economic growth by placing restrictions on certain types of businesses. These restrictions discourage new businesses from locating in the region, and discourage existing businesses from expanding their operations.

In June, the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed revising the nation's air quality standards for ground-level ozone for the first time since 1997. The new ozone standard will be within a range of 0.070 to 0.075 parts per million (ppm). If this were the standard today, Central Oklahoma would have already lost its clean air status. See how the new air quality standards will affect the country.

In an effort to maintain Central Oklahoma's clean air status, the Chamber will work with the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments (ACOG), Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) and others to address this concern.

To learn more about this issue, visit ACOG / Let's Clear the Air or the EPA website.

[Oh GAWD the Smell!]

Click here.

[ksearls]

I still think it's THE MIST!!!

[Misty]

For the Southpark fans......maybe it's SMUG.

[BDP]

To be fair I think what I read was by state not city, but I'd be surprised if the city was somehow less polluted than the state on average:

12th highest in per capita CO2 emmissions, June 2007


38th "Greenest" State according to a Forbes list

Good news is that we're not the highest, and maybe it was a stretch to say that we're one of the highest, but we're not a "clean" state either and sometimes it shows up. As long as we love our cars and we love our coal, our air quality will suffer. You can't really get around it. Right now, with our habits, we're just lucky that more people don't live here, or it would be worse for sure.

[PennyQuilts]

I love the air in OKC. It is one of the best things about the area. The wind dilutes down impurities, blows it away and keeps it clean. Where I am living, now, we are surrounded by trees and the air is just nasty. I miss the air in OKC more than anything but the long view.

Have you checked out Denver? That is one weird city. It always has a smog pot lid on it.

[Oh GAWD the Smell!]

I lived in Denver, and I don't recall it ever being much worse than OKC.

[Karried]

No wind

[PennyQuilts]

I lived in Denver, and I don't recall it ever being much worse than OKC.

Really? That surprises me. Everytime I have been through there I've noticed a sort of brown, dirty looking air cover. I've discussed this with a lot of people and just wondered if the stuff was hovering there because the mountains blocked the wind. Obviously, I am no meteorologist who could explain it. Oh well, go figure. It always catches me by surprise because I have an image of the mountains (and Denver) as being a really healthy place.

After thinking about this, I googled smog and Denver and came up with this recent message board post that discusses the smog situation in Denver (ignore the naked Jesus in the first post and scroll down to the Why Denver sucks post):

» Articles Candy Smokes: Because humor is addicting…

Here is an exerpt from that post:

<<The front page picture was a shot of downtown Denver surrounded in a brown haze. The picture looked exactly like every other picture of Denver that you’ve ever seen (excluding the ones that have been doctored for publicity purposes), and you could look out the window and see the same thing. Trouble is, the accompanying article said that the haze was a result of dust storms in China the previous week that had somehow traveled across the Pacific Ocean, halfway across the entire world, and managed to come to a rest in one condensed cloud in and around the city of Denver.

Right. Stuff like that happens all the time.

This may sound absurd to a normal person, but to Denver residents, it’s a perfectly plausible explanation for the thick smog that surrounds their beloved city. As long as they can blame it on someone else, it doesn’t have to make sense. >>

[Oh GAWD the Smell!]

That dude is spot-on about the attitude of the residents. I've never been around more people that flat-out hated an entire state. California is a dirty word there.

I lived there for 3 years, and while LoDo had some great night life, and snowboarding was GREAT...The people there never impressed me a bit. Not to mention how dang expensive it was (blamed on Californians), how crowded it was (blamed on Californians), or how badly people drove (guess what that was blamed on?)

The way I looked at it...The whole time I was there, I never met a soul that had moved there from California (except me), and having come from California, I KNOW Californians can drive their wheels off. Coloradans drive like Okies (non-yielding, self-absorbed asshats), but with 10x the red light running.

Denver may have pretty much left a slightly bad taste in my mouth and I couldn't wait to move away, but smog isn't something I remember from there. Stats don't lie though...I won't argue with them

[PennyQuilts]

Other than Texas, every place I've been has been full of self haters. Nice to know there is a place that blames their problems on ANOTHER state.

[CCOKC]

[QUOTE=Oh GAWD the Smell!;119006]That dude is spot-on about the attitude of the residents. I've never been around more people that flat-out hated an entire state. California is a dirty word there.

I lived there for 3 years, and while LoDo had some great night life, and snowboarding was GREAT...The people there never impressed me a bit. Not to mention how dang expensive it was (blamed on Californians), how crowded it was (blamed on Californians), or how badly people drove (guess what that was blamed on?)




I lived in Boise Idaho last year and I heard the same things over and over from all of the Boiseans? Boiseites? Boisers? Those damn Californians came in and bought up all of there property for investment property and then the market crashed. Anybody want to buy a 2500 sf house for $425,000 in Boise. Nice fixer upper. Terrible part of town. I got one for ya. Damn Californians.