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Go DeeperPress Release The Report |
Air pollution is damaging every major ecosystem type in the eastern United States, according to a new study by Nature Conservancy scientist Tim Tear and Gary Lovett at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies.
Pollution has reduced crop yields, hindered disease resistance in trees, and poisoned species such as salamanders, lake trout, frogs and bald eagles.
“Air pollution is most often discussed as directly impacting humans through respiratory problems,” says Tear. “But humans are also affected by ecosystem degradation.”
The study reports:
- Ground-level ozone causes $3 billion to $6 billion in lost U.S. crop productivity each year.
- Acid rain has made several streams in the Appalachians uninhabitable by fish.
- Mercury levels are four to six times higher than they were a century ago. While levels of air pollution have been reduced since the passage of the 1990 Clean Air Act, the cumulative effects of sulfur, nitrogen, mercury and ground-level ozone linger. The report calls for new thinking about regulations on air pollution — for example, determining emissions levels based on pollutants’ environmental impact.
—Curtis Runyan
Nature picture credits: Map from Cosby, Bernard J. and Charles T. Driscoll. 2007. “Assessing the Threat of Atmospheric Deposition.” Report from the University of Virginia for The Nature Conservancy. In Review.
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