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Shared Airspace: Asian Pollution in the US

Asia’s industrial boom may well be contributing to America’s air pollution problems, if NASA researchers are correct in their theory that ozone created in China is making its way to the United States.

To find out, NASA is funding pollution-measuring projects across the country that use six-foot helium weather balloons to sample ozone and fine particulates and send the data back to a central computer. The three-year study involves a dozen U.S. sites and aircraft flying over the Pacific Ocean. When completed, it will also help researchers track severe weather patterns and the natural disasters that often follow them.

This study follows NASA research conducted in 2004 that tracked pollution from Asia south and west over Africa to the South Atlantic, where it created an ozone-dense area every winter and spring.

If NASA scientists are correct, Asian-borne pollution could complicate domestic efforts to reduce air pollution in American cities. Both ozone and fine particulates contribute to health problems such as asthma and other lung and respiratory diseases. Most of the ozone problems in this country have been blamed on emissions from cars, trucks and power plants.

To read more about this story, click here or read about it in Science Daily.

To read more about this and other environmental health issues, go to: www.environmentalhealthnews.org, www.ourstolenfuture.org, or www.healthandenvironment.org