Air resources

4 Stratospheric Ozone Protects Earth from Ultraviolet Radiation 

Most of Earth s atmosphere is contained within a distance of 30 kilometers from the planet s surface. Given the size of our planet—its diameter is 13,000 kilometers—this 30-kilometer thickness is ultrathin, so thin that from space the atmosphere appears only as a narrow band along the horizon. Indeed, if Earth were the size of an apple its atmosphere would be about as thick as the skin of the apple. We learned in the previous chapter that fresh water is a limited resource. Now we learn that the air around us is also a limited resource. 

Air pollution is a well known problem, one that migrates across international boundaries. Chemists sampling the air in North America, for example, can detect heavy metals released by smelters operating in China. Chlorofluorocar-bons released in the Northern Hemisphere affect ozone levels in the air above the South Pole. Since the introduction of the internal-combustion engine, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have been rising markedly, and global warming is a potential consequence. 

Our planet is a gigantic terrarium, and collectively we are its caretakers. With this job comes the responsibility to learn how Earth s resources can be properly managed for the benefit of all its inhabitants. In this chapter we explore some of the fundamental dynamics of the atmosphere and the impact of human activities. 

Our atmosphere is a result of the actions of both solar heat and gravity. 

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Mobile Source Division, AlcoholEueled Vehicle Elect Test Program 9th Interim Report, Pub. ARB /MS-89-09, California Air Resources Board, El Monte, Calif., Nov. 1989. 

Proposed Regulationsfor Eow Emission Uehicles and Clean Fuels, Staff Report, California Air Resources Board, Sacramento, Calif., Aug. 13, 1990. 

Air Quality Criteria forTead Supplement to the 1986 Addendum, U.S. EPA, Environmental Criteria and Assessment Office, Washington, D.C., 1990. Technical Support Document to Proposed Airborne Toxic Control Measure for Emissions of Toxic Metalsfrom Non-Ferrous Metal Melting, State of California Air Resources Board, Stationary Source Division, Sacramento, Calif., 1992. 

California Air Resources Board and Department of Health Services, Report to the Scientific Review Panel on Chromium, Sacramento, Calif., 1985. 

Technical Support Document Revisions to the Malfunction and Diagnostic System Requirements Applicable to 1994 and later New California Passanger Cars, Eight-Duty Trucks, andMedium Duty Vehicles with Feedback Fuel Control Systems (OBD-II), California Air Resources Board, Sacramento, Sept. 14,1989. 

Fig. 15-1. CaUfomia South Coast Air Basin stationary monitoring locations operating during 1991. (L.A., Los Angeles). Source California Air Resources Board, "Summary of 1991 Air Quality Data, Gaseous and Particulate Pollutants," Vol. 23, 1991.

Raw data must be analyzed and transformed into a format useful for specific purposes. Summary tables, graphs, and geographic distributions are some of the formats used for data display. Air quality information often consists of a large body of data collected at a variety of locations and over different seasons. Table 15-3 shows the tabular format used by the California Air Resources Board to reduce ozone hourly measurements to a format which shows information about compliance with air quality standards (6). The format has location, maximum values, annual means, and number of occurrences of hourly values above a given concentration as a function of the month of the year. One can quickly determine which areas are violating a standard, at what time of the year elevated concentrations are occurring, and the number of good data points collected. 

CaUfomia Air Resources Board, "Summary of 1991 Air Quality Data, Gaseous and Particulate Pollutants." CaUfomia Air Resources Board, Sacramento, 1991. 

Viebrock, H. J., (ed.), "Fiscal Year 1980 Summary Report of NOAA Meteorology Laboratory Support to the Environmental Protection Agency." National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Tech. Memo. ERL ARL-107. Air Resources Laboratories, Silver Spring, MD, 1981. 

Watson, J. G. (ed.), "Receptor Models in Air Resources Management." APCA Transaction Series, No. 14. Air and Waste Management Association, Pittsburgh, 1989. 

Air pollution and environmental officers, environmental protection associates, environmental quality managers and environmentalists, and specialists (air pollution, air pollution control, air quality, air quality control, air resource, envaronmental control, environmental health, environmental management, environmental quality, highway transportation, monitoring, pollution control, program, public participation, quality assurance, and unspecified). 

State of California Air Resource Board, California Fuel Evaporative Emissions Standard and Test Procedure for 1970 Model Light Duty Vehicles, April 16, 1968. 

Reads California Air Resources Board data files. 

AIRWeb Air Resources Web, an air quality information web site for U.S. parks and wildlife refuges developed by the Air Resources Division of the National Park Service and the Air Quality Branch of the Fish and Wildlife Service. 

Mr. Robert French, Chief Program Administrator Air Resource Section... 

Air Resources Branch 880 Bay Street 4th floor Toronto, Ontario M5S 1Z8... 

I hong, J., 1980, Hazardous Gas Release Model, Air Resources Branch, EMGRESP Program Documentation, Ontario Ministry of the Environment. 

Air resource management The enforcement of set standards to reduce contamination supported by control regulations, planning, and quality testing facilities. 

Protect and enliance the quality of the nation s air resources so as to promote the public health and welfare and Uie productive capacity of its population... 

Regulations imposed on auto makers to address a perceived air pollution crisis once again renewed EV interest in the early 1990s. Perhaps the most aggressive regulations were imposed by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) low emission vehicle (LEV) program mandating that zero emission vehicles... 

California Air Resources Board. (1991). Employer-Based Trip Reduction A Reasonably Available Transportation Control Measure. Executive Office. Sacramento, CA Author. California Air Resources Board. (1995). Evaluation of Selected Projects Eunded by Motor Vehicle Registration Fees, Revised. Technical Support Document. Sacramento, CA Author. 

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) set an averse sulfur specification of 40 ppm for 1996, with a maximum of 80 ppm. The CAAA s Complex Model also addresses sulfur issues in its set of equations. 

California Air Resources Board (CARB) is a state agency which regulates and sets standards for air quality and emissions of various pollutants. 

F. R. Kalhammer, A. Kozawa, C. B. Moyer, B. B. Owens, Performance and Availability of Batteries for Electric Vehicles, Report of the Battery Technical Advisory Panel, California Air Resource Board, El Monte, CA, 1995. 

RCRA s TSDF standards also include provisions to protect groundwater and air resources from hazardous waste contamination. RCRA requires owners and operators of land-based units (i.e., land treatment units, landfills, surface impoundments, and waste piles) to monitor the groundwater below their TSDF for possible contamination, and clean up any discovered contamination. 

In order to protect air resources, TSDFs are required to install unit controls to prevent organic emissions from escaping into the air. The air emission controls apply to process vents, equipment leaks, containers, surface impoundments, and tanks. 

STATEf continued) Rhode Island ceiling 1.4 x 102 ig/m3 RI Div Air Resources... 

NH Air Resources Div. 1998. State of New Hampshire, State Department of Environmental Services, Air Resources Division. N.H. Code Admin. R. Ann. Env-A 1300, 1400. 

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