Acid Rain and Air Pollution in Desert Park Areas

Acid Rain and Air Pollution in Desert Park Areas
Author: Deborah Mangis
Publisher: Forgotten Books
Total Pages: 154
Release: 2018-01-07
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780428067908

Excerpt from Acid Rain and Air Pollution in Desert Park Areas: Proceedings of a Workshop, May 16-18, 1988 and Management Recommendations Western United States emissions of sulfur dioxide (802) have historically been dominated by smelters in Arizona; these emissions declined as smelters closed. Future emissions are not likely to increase to the levels seen during the copper era unless a synfuel industry develops or the use of coal increases. While the regional picture is thus encouraging, individual urban areas will continue to grow, contributing nitrogen oxides (no, ) and so2 to more local receptor areas. Blanchard uses a mass balance approach to make the observation that less than one third of the soz and no, emitted in the region can be accounted for in precipitation. The remainder is either deposited to surfaces dry, or is transported out of the region. The National Atmospheric Deposition Program (nadp) monitors precipitation chemistry at a number of sites in the Southwest. The mean annual precipitation ph has generally been less than or equal to at two of the 14 sites examined, Mesa Verde, co, and Oliver Knoll, az. At many sites, levels of sulfate and nitrate exceed background levels. Most of the 14 nadp sites examined exhibited relatively high concentrations of calcium (ca), representing a sizeable neutralizing capacity. Sites closest to urban or industrial sources showed strong influences from these sources. Some national park units, including Saguaro and Joshua Tree National Monuments, are located close enough to major sources of acid precursors that precipitation chemistry monitoring is warranted. It was concluded that acid rain is not a threat to resources of desert park areas by itself, but the effects of cumulative deposition of both wet and dry acidifying materials must be further explored. Gaseous pollutants of concern in nps desert parks include: ozone, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and volatile organic compounds (voc). The nps Air Quality Division maintains a network of monitoring sites in desert parks that records information on spatial and temporal trends of pollutant concentrations. Scruggs concluded that even in remote desert parks pollutants often exceed background levels. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Science and Ecosystem Management in the National Parks

Science and Ecosystem Management in the National Parks
Author: William L. Halvorson
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Total Pages: 377
Release: 2023-01-17
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0816552401

Our national parks are more than mere recreational destinations. They are repositories of the nation's biological diversity and contain some of the last ecosystem remnants needed as standards to set reasonable goals for sustainable development throughout the land. Nevertheless, public pressure for recreation has largely precluded adequate research and resource monitoring in national parks, and ignorance of ecosystem structure and function in parks has led to costly mistakes--such as predator control and fire suppression--that continue to threaten parks today. This volume demonstrates the value of ecological knowledge in protecting parks and shows how modest investments in knowledge of park ecosystems can pay handsome dividends. Science and Ecosystem Management in the National Parks presents twelve case studies of long-term research conducted in and around national parks that address major natural resource issues. These cases demonstrate how the use of longer time scales strongly influence our understanding of ecosystems and how interpretations of short-term patterns in nature often change when viewed in the context of long-term data sets. Most importantly, they show conclusively that scientific research significantly reduces uncertainty and improves resource management decisions. Chosen by scientists and senior park managers, the cases offer a broad range of topics, including: air quality at Grand Canyon; interaction between moose and wolf populations on Isle Royale; control of exotic species in Hawaiian parks; simulation of natural fire in the parks of the Sierra Nevada; and the impact of urban expansion on Saguaro National Monument. Because national parks are increasingly beset with conflicting views of their management, the need for knowledge of park ecosystems becomes even more critical--not only for the parks themselves, but for what they can tell us about survival in the rest of our world. This book demonstrates to policymakers and managers that decisions based on knowledge of ecosystems are more enduring and cost effective than decisions derived from uninformed consensus. It also provides scientists with models for designing research to meet threats to our most precious natural resources. "If we can learn to save the parks," observe Halvorson and Davis, "perhaps we can learn to save the world."