A unit of Lasting Forests evolving since March 30, 1999
A Total Forest Management Plan and Wildland Management Decision Support System
[ HOME | The Trevey Home | Table of Contents | The Finder | Glossary ]

Air Quality and Global Warming

Air Quality in General

Global Warming Related to the Site

The environment needing management is the mapped area of the ownership but also a volume, an air column 7 miles above the area (the troposphere) and the geological system below the surface. The stratospheric ozone layer (7 to 30 miles above the Earth) is a mixed global resource. The classes of air pollution affecting quality are:

1. Nuisance and esthetic insult-odor; low atmospheric visibility; discoloration of buildings and monuments.
2. Property damage - corrosion of metals; accelerated weathering of buildings and monuments; soiling of clothes, buildings and monuments.
3. Damage to plants and animals - leaf spotting and decay; decreased crop yields; decreased rate of photosynthesis; harmful effects on the respiratory and central nervous systems of animals.
4. Damage to human health - oxygen deficiency in the blood; eye irritation; respiratory system irritation and damage; cancer.
5. Human genetic and reproductive damage - largely unknown; possible.
6. Major ecosystem disruption - alteration of local and regional climate, perhaps global.

The subsystems are global and local. Global systems are of concern because massive pollution in one part of the world can influence this area. These include influences of the pollutants of: (1) carbon oxides, (2) sulfur oxides, (3) nitrogen oxides, (4) hydrocarbons, (5) photochemical oxidants, (6) particulates, (see the section on smoke under "A Fire Management System"), (7) other inorganics (e.g., asbestos, sulfuric and nitric acids), (8) other organic compounds (e.g., pesticides, alcohols, acids), (9) radioactive substances, and (10) heat. In the area, the visual quality or visibility is affected by several of these. The visual range is about 10 miles (compared to 70 in the southwestern U.S.).

Locally, the system is sensitive to contributions from the area to the air quality as well as how the air characteristics influence other factors of the environment at the area.

Click on the box, then enter your zip mail code address to get current air polution within your area. Later development

The primary law influencing the air is the Clean Air Act of 1977 with amendments and the law of 1990. Before a significant source of air pollution can be constructed (or an existing source expanded) the source must receive a Prevention of Significant Deterioration (particulates) permit and that involves obtaining comments from agencies to recommend that the permit be issued, modified, or denied.

In addition to effects to human, air pollution can have a major influence on soil and nutrient availability to plants, on litter decomposition, and to lichen and other plants. Plant health influences the susceptibility of plants to insects and disease (thus potential treatments needed). Health influences the quality of plants as forage for animals. Air quality standards have been established that specify maximum allowable levels for each major air pollutant.

Even after massive amounts of research and great success, major questions about air pollutants remain. Research is needed to help protect human health and the environment from air pollution by providing the scientific and technical information needed to evaluate options for improving air quality in timely and cost-effective ways. Such research characterizes the sources of air pollution, builds a predictive understanding of the phenomena involved, quantifies the human-related effects and impacts, and assess the state of knowledge in policy-relevant terms. Many air quality issues face legislative mandated assessments, regulatory actions, or other important policy decision within coming years. The environmental issues pose potentially large, but often unquantified, risks to human health and well-being. At the same time implementation of planned or potential control measures can have very large socioeconomic impacts.

High levels of surface ozone are occurring in numerous urban areas and are known to have adverse health effects, particularly on more susceptible citizens. The clear cause of this urban pollution is human-generated emissions, notably from automobiles and electric power plants. Despite requirements to reduce emissions, abatement of urban ozone levels has been less than anticipated, and the full scientific explanation as to why is not in hand. Crop damage by elevated rural ozone levels is moderately well characterized, but recent research points to a need to revisit the strategies for reducing such levels. Ozone damage and growth retardation relations for forests are poorly understood, particularly from the standpoint for exposure to multiple stresses.

Similarly, sources of acidic deposition are also clearly related to human activities. Trends in wet acidic deposition are now fairly well defined and show declines over the past few years associated with emission reductions. However, the amount and changes in dry deposition are poorly characterized. Responses of aquatic life, forests soils, and materials to exposure levels are not well quantified, which limits decision regarding appropriate future emission reductions. We plan to follow this research carefully and to integrate the results into The Trevey and into action on the land.

Our proposal is to seek to keep emissions at a level so as to avoid these levels and otherwise contribute to improving regional air quality. Forestry and wildlife work will reduce particulate matter, and revegetation will contribute to the natural levels of organic components of air. Reduced fossil energy use, vehicle changes, and advanced cleaning equipment will all be used as regulations change and funding becomes available. The area may be sensitive to acid deposition and information on this will be sought.

Control costs are conspicuous and high but studies have shown benefits far outweigh the costs. Costs do not impeded overall economic growth, price increases are insignificantly small, and plant closings have not occurred as a result of the standards.

Indoor air quality (e.g., radon, etc.) is not covered in this system.

Global Warming Related to the Site

It now seems very clear that the human activity of burning coal, oil, and gas and changing land into cropland has increased carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels in the atmosphere. The amount is not trivial and exceeds 25% over that likely in the early 1800's. In another 100 years (2099 A.D.) it will have doubled. The increase over the nation (and world) will change the climate and it seems that the change has begun. That is the bad news. Of course the change is slow; that is the good news. The good news, if any attention is paid to it (and believed, for there is risk in believing, or not) allows new forest regeneration strategies to be developed, suggests tests that should be made, suggests lands that need to be sold (or acquired), and even suggests the future of coastal wetlands and their resources.

The carbon dioxide increase will cause an increase in surface temperatures in Virginia between 3 (1.5 C) to 8 (4.5 C) degrees Fahrenheit with a best guess being 5 degrees. With that will come increase in precipitation of 5 to 15 % in the summers and soil moisture decreasing about 15 to 20 percent. No one can fathom the the change in precipitation patterns and this leads to great uncertainty and reasonable inaction. The Trevey staff, as others, do not yet know the rate of change or the pattern.

We hold that:

1. CO₂ has increased.
2. It will continue to increase (even in the face of the dangers)
3. Temperature will increase within 50 years
4. Precipitation will increase, but in peaks, with great instability
5. Net photosynthesis will will increase
6. Decomposition rates will increase
7. Available nutrients will be leached because plants will be unable to take them up in the quantities available
8. Transpiration will be decreased, resulting in some plants being under water stress (excesses)
9. Effects of temperature are and will continue to be life-stage effects, not merely species specific
10. Heat stress will kill some seedlings; survivors will prosper with increased net photosynthesis
11. The C₃ grasses and shrubs will have the advantage over the C₄ grasses (C₄ plants' growth and photosynthesis is limited by cool temperatures suggesting special new managerial emphasis on high elevation sites with northerly aspects)
12. C₃ shrubs have the advantage over C₃ grasses
13. As elsewhere, things are related. Animals only use certain plants which require certain temperature and moisture conditions to use CO₂ for photosynthesis. When CO₂ changes, everything else changes, up the line to larger plants and animals and to people who use them. Temperature warming will move lowland plants and their communities higher on the mountains where there is less suitable area and probably less water... thus periodic stresses... thus periodic disease and insect events
14. Lightning fire frequency will increase; available fuel will decrease but where it exists, fires will be hotter and more destructive of soil
15. Life stages of insect pollinators may be first affected by subtle temperature change and this inconspicuous change (e.g., instar death) may be manifest in wide-ranging conspicuous changes in understory plants that produce mast for wildlife ...some positively, some negatively affected (positive and negative are almost impossible to estimate; net even more difficult)
16. Warmer winters may expose hibernators to predation longer and place them under greater risks of extreme winter events.
17. This list will be expanded. Funds are being sought to move existing global-warming models into practical application within The Trevey.

A variety of personal and organizational efforts are essential to stop air pollution and associated global warming. The pessimistic staff, fearing human patterns are fixed and lesser-developed countries are just learning how to "really" add to the carbon dioxide levels, are developing a strategy (The Warmer Wildlands Strategy)for the lasting forests in a warmer world. It will be shared as it becomes available.

A nationally consistent map of surface wind and ventilation index is now available (Ferguson et al. 2003).

Under Development: the atmospheric space and perceived layers above alpha units

Literature Cited

Ferguson, S.A., S.J. McKay, D.E. Nagel et al. 2003. Assessing values of air quality and visibility at risk from wildland fires. USDA For. Serv. Pacific Northwast Research Station, Research Paper PNW-RP-550, 59p.

U.S.E.P.A. 1979. Protecting visibility: an EPA report to Congress. EPA-450/5-79-008, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina (variously paged)

Miller, G. T., Jr. 1982. Living in the environment (3rd ed.) Wadsworth Pub. Co., Belmont, CA 381 pp.

Go to top of page.

This Web site is maintained by R. H. Giles, Jr.
Last revision January 17, 2000.