Climate change is affecting the air we breathe, adding four major pollutants.
Smoke Warmer, drier air is responsible for a big increase in wildfires, bringing smoke a thousand miles and more from the Western US and from Canada.
Dust In some drought areas, stronger winds and drier soil add windblown dust to the air, increasing particulate pollution.
Pollen Warmer temperatures signal plants to bloom earlier, extending and intensifying the pollen season. Asthma and hay fever have jumped nationally, largely driven by the changing climate. Where winds have increased in strength, pollen and mold spores have become more airborne and transmissible.
Ozone Increased solar radiation and summertime temperatures also accelerate the chemical process of ozone formation.
1 in 4 of us breathes bad air
About 83 million Americans are already exposed each year to air quality that is categorized as ‘unhealthy’ by the Air Quality Index (AQI). Many of our neighborhoods are color-coded red. [First Street Foundation]
The costs are only getting worse. Not only is our health declining, in some places outdoor workers are losing workdays, tourism is decreasing, and some of us are a little less productive because of heat and air quality. (That’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it.)
What some towns are doing
With so many causes, it’s not easy for a local community to reduce air pollution, but many are trying. Clark County in Nevada is now providing $325 vouchers to local landscaping businesses to swap their gas blowers for battery-powered ones. Gas blowers are super polluters, spewing both chemicals and particulates.
A commercial gas blower running for an hour can emit the same amount of pollution as an older model car traveling from Las Vegas to Los Angeles and back—twice. [Clark County Department of Environment and Sustainability]
Gas-powered lawn and garden equipment in Maryland emitted an estimated 597 tons of harmful “fine particulate” air pollution in 2020 — an amount equivalent to the pollution emitted by 6.4 million gas-powered cars over the course of a year. [Environmental Protection Agency]
Louisville, KY, Montgomery County, MD, San Diego County, and a growing number of other municipal areas offer similar incentives to trade in those handheld super-polluters - plus their relatives, gasoline mowers - for electric alternatives. Funds are available through state, county and city environmental departments which can be reimbursed by the federal government via the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
Get your rebate now
The IRA, which offers more than half a trillion dollars to homes and businesses to reduce carbon emissions and protect ourselves against climate damages, may see these funds cancelled by this time next year. If the Republicans win Congress, and certainly if they win the White House, they promise to trash most of the local protections against climate damage which communities are increasingly relying on.
Project 2025 proposes dismantling strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change, including by gutting the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and abolishing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which the project calls ‘one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry.’ [Wikipedia]
The benefits of getting rid of gas-powered landscaping machinery do not stop at reducing fumes and particulates in the air around our homes. Think of noise pollution. Think of CO2 emissions. And think of how this example of climate adaptation - highly-visible and audible - might help a community start thinking of other ways to protect its residents against the growing damages from climate change.
See my newsletter about The Conservative axe hanging over climate action