This summer there were eleven ozone action days in West Michigan, only slightly exceeding the yearly average of 10.45 ozone action days per year since the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality started declaring them. Ozone action days are declared when ground-level ozone reaches “excessive” levels, resulting in the smog that is created by nitrogen oxides (NOs) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) mixing with sunlight. Ozone pollution is caused primarily by the burning of fuel and emissions from motor vehicles and industry.
The emissions that cause ozone action days have also been blamed for global warming. Moreover, in a year that saw increased hurricane activity that is likely connected to an increase in the world’s temperature, a significant decrease in Arctic Sea ice, and studies showing that sea life is being harmed by CO2 emissions, the ozone action days are indicative of a pattern of climate change due to global warming from human activity.
Related posts:
- Call to Action: Days of Resistance to the War, March 19-20 2007
- Bush Administration Trying to Limit G8 Action on Climate Change
- Study Shows Michigan’s Carbon Dioxide Emissions Increased 46% from 1960 to 2001
- Study: Global Warming Impacts Largely Irreversible
- West Michigan Remembers the Fourth Anniversary of Iraq War
