Air Pollution in Los Angeles

Anthropogenic contamination of the atmosphere is causing both climate change and air pollution, which respectively represent the greatest long term and short term environmental risks to human and planetary health. The contamination is largely invisible and hence difficult to contextualise for non-expert audiences. This can lead to the problem being ignored; or where it is acknowledged, leading to feelings of helplessness and a lack of agency.This project uses digital light painting to visualise and explore responses to particulate matter (PM) air pollution, in a variety of global locations, as a method for both public engagement and campaign work. This photographic technique combines long exposure with light sources digitally controlled by sensors, it builds upon the prior work of electronic pioneer Steve Mann (e.g. Mann et al. 2019) and more recent work visualising wifi strength (Arnall et al. 2013).The five year art-science collaboration between Price and Pope has been highly successful. The Air of the Anthropocene project resulted in multiple gallery shows (including Los Angeles, Belfast and Birmingham). The media publicized it heavily, including Source Magazine, New Scientist and the Guardian. The physical art works were acquired by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland&#8217;s public collection.In this presentation, we will highlight the scientific and aesthetic underpinnings of the use of low cost air pollution sensors for data visualisation through light painting. Locations for visualizations were guided by expert advice from environmental scientists in global locations, including those in Europe, Africa, Asia and South America. In this sense the science informed the art. Also, since the code from the project ended being used by scientists, the art informed the science (e.g. Crilley et al. 2018).We will highlight the efficacy of this image making approach as an engagement and advocacy tool, through case studies of its use in field campaigns in Ethiopia (2020) and Kampala (2018), investigating both indoor and outdoor air pollution.&#160; Future possibilities of the approach to air pollution visualization will be discussed. This will include expanding the approach through open sourcing the project and its adaptation beyond lens based techniques into augmented reality camera phone use.The projected next phase of the collaboration will work towards empowering interested citizens of the world to make their own creative, aesthetic representations of their environment and use these images as citizen activists to affect transformational change in their own localities. Through adopting open source methodologies it is hoped that sustainability beyond the timescale and budget of the initial project with lasting legacy will be achieved.&#160;Arnall et al, 2013. Immaterials: light painting WiFi. Significance, 10(4). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1740-9713.2013.00683.x&#160;Crilley et al, 2018. Evaluation of a low-cost optical particle counter (Alphasense OPC-N2) for ambient air monitoring. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques. https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-709-2018&#160;Mann et al 2019, June. Making Sensors Tangible with Long-exposure Photography. In The 5th ACM Workshop on Wearable Systems and Applications. https://doi.org/10.1145/3325424.3329668

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Photochemical Air Pollution and Automobile Accidents in Los Angeles

Archives of Environmental Health An International Journal ◽

10.1080/00039896.1968.10665239 ◽

1968 ◽

Vol 17 (3) ◽

pp. 334-342 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Hans K. Ury

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Los Angeles ◽

Automobile Accidents

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THE ROLE OF GAS IN ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL

The APPEA Journal ◽

10.1071/aj72019 ◽

1973 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 125

Author(s):

Hanns F. Hartmann

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Los Angeles ◽

Natural Gas ◽

Pollution Control ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Large Scale ◽

Fossil Fuels ◽

Environmental Control ◽

Air Pollution Control ◽

Oxides Of Nitrogen

The gases comprising the atmosphere are in dynamic balance both with the oceans and the dry land of the continents. The mechanisms which operate to keep the atmospheric content of oxygen, nitrogen, carbon and sulphur constant are now well defined. The capacity of the system to absorb excess gaseous impurities is adequate on a global basis with the exception of carbon dioxide.Air pollution is thus a local problem resulting from the overloading of a particular air space with contaminants. The greater part of air pollution is due to the combustion of fossil fuels. Ease of control and virtual freedom from sulphur give natural gas an advantage over liquid and solid fuels as far as air pollution control is concerned. Oxides of nitrogen are produced when natural gas is burned but in smaller quantities than in the combustion of other fuels. In high capacity industrial gas burners where oxides of nitrogen may be generated in large quantities control is easier and can achieve a lower level of oxides of nitrogen than is the case with other fuels.The large scale use of natural gas to solve the air pollution problems of Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and many other cities is proof of the usefulness of gas in this respect. Specialised applications include use in incinerators and industrial after burners. Advances in removal of impurities from fuels and of air pollutants from products of combustion combined with rising gas prices will in time displace gas from its preeminent position in air pollution control. It is, however, likely to retain its advantage in small installations and in dense urban areas. In public and private transport its use will probably remain limited.While technological developments in the distant future may eventually displace fossil fuels, gas will have a large share of the fuel market until that day comes and will contribute effectively to the control of air pollution.

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Maritime Administration’s Formulation of a Maritime Energy and Clean Emissions Program

Design, Operation, and Application of Modern Internal Combustion Engines and Associated Systems ◽

10.1115/ices2002-462 ◽

2002 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Daniel J. Gore

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

Air Pollution ◽

Los Angeles ◽

San Francisco ◽

Environmental Protection Agency ◽

The State ◽

Nox Emissions ◽

Bottom Line ◽

Bay Area ◽

Local Pressures

The Environmental Protection Agency promulgation of “Control of Emissions of Air Pollution from New Marine Compression Ignition Engines at or above 37 kW,” on December 29, 1999, marked the first time federal air pollution regulations were directly applied to marine engines for commercial U.S. ships. Perhaps surprisingly, these regulations are not having as much impact as are individual State Implementation Plans (SIP) for Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) attainment, and local political pressures. These regional plans and pressures are forcing many domestic marine operators and ports to get a quick education on the cause and mitigation of air pollution. Cases in point, include: • The State of Alaska now fines passenger vessels that enter ports with greater than allowable stack gas opacities. One cruise operator has opted to plug into shore power when its vessels are tied up to pier. • In the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach vessel operators have been asked to slow vessel speeds below normal while entering and exiting in a voluntary attempt to reduce NOx emissions. • Environmentalists in the San Francisco Bay Area are applying significant political pressures to ensure proposed new ferry systems emit a minimum of air pollution. • The State of Texas briefly considered stopping all industrial equipment in the Port of Houston for twelve hours per day as a method of decreasing area ozone formation. • Potential NOx emissions generated during imminent channel dredging in the Port of New York and New Jersey is impeding the development of the latest State Implementation Plan. Local pressures are likely to continue to grow, federal regulations are set to become more stringent, and international conventions loom on the horizon. However, as expected in such a competitive industry, concerns are often focused on the bottom line in which cost of operations is a pre-eminent factor. It was in view of these dynamics that the federal Maritime Administration (MARAD) recently launched the Maritime Energy and Clean Emissions Program. This paper introduces the Program, including the background, evolution, and progress of each strategic goal. This paper is intended to be an overview. Attention is paid to the potential transferability and/or development of technologies not previously deployed in the U.S. marine environment. Any of the specific projects described could become the basis for a separate technical paper.

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