Oilpatch Ozone Pollution
Fossil fuel extraction leads to surprising smog in rural wilderness areas.Ground-level ozone is one of the most dangerous components of smog, and is usually an issue in big cities in the summer, when sunlight breaks down concentrated pollutants from vehicles and industry, and ozone is formed. However, it's rarely a problem in rural areas, and rarely a problem in winter. So, Dr. Cora Young, an assistant professor of Chemistry at Memorial University of Newfoundland, and her colleagues, were shocked to find extremely high ozone levels occurring in rural Utah in winter. What they've found is that pollution from oil and gas exploitation can, under some conditions, concentrate over snow, and sunlight reflecting on the snow can drive ground-level ozone production.
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