Asian Air Pollution Wafts Over Eastern U.S.
Air pollution from Asia has been found hovering over the northeast U.S., calling into question the efficacy of domestic efforts to improve air quality. “At some point, it may be cheaper to sell pollution-control equipment to China,” said researcher Daniel J. Jacob. Researchers from six countries are involved in what’s billed as the largest and most comprehensive effort ever to measure the global flow of air pollution, dubbed the International Consortium for Atmospheric Research on Transport and Transformation. Flying in planes and sending up air balloons, scientists are measuring pollution across the globe and making some surprising findings. Armond Cohen of the nonprofit Clean Air Task Force sums them up this way: “I think the most profound thing that you draw from this is that the globe is one air shed.”
