Haze

[Mike D]

I'm not a scientist, but KD has it right. Our air quality scientists have traced air masses back to the source using wind data collected throughout the country. Indeed, New England sees many of the air masses as they exit the U.S. Thus the "tailpipe" analogy.

The point that this drives home for me is that we live in an increasingly global society. Sometimes Chinese pollution even hits the west coast. Laws are the only thing that stops at the border!

I am not an expert on air quality, but what I have learned is this: New England is the "tailpipe" of the US. Smog travels to us from the mid-west. steel plants, coal-fired energy plants, auto emissions, etc. We get it all. Also, over the last few years when there have been huge forest fires in Quebec and Ontario, we get the smoke. I've been on mountain tops with terrible visibility on bright, sunshiny days and had the smell of smoke burning my lungs. (And, no, it wasn't the Cog). Sometimes you can see a brown line above the horizon. I don't think theres any particular thing nearby, like in Bethlehem as Brad suggests, that is causing this. It is a culmination of pollution which comes our way from across the mid west and northeast parts of this country and southeastern Canada. I'm sure more knowledgable people will elaborate.

KDT

[KD Talbot]

Sorry, Brad. I didn't catch on to the humor of it. It was too early in the morning, still on my first cup of coffee. I should have realized you were joking. I was thinking maybe you knew of a coal fired power plant there or something. Maybe Bethlehem Steel? I'm too smoggy in the morning to be very quick at catching on. You gotta kinda dump hot coffee on my head.
KDT

[Brad]

One guy comes on late and does not catch my humor. And you are up on the computer before a cup of coffee and miss my humor. Maybe I should give up and be serious for a change. Nah, not much chance . . .

For the folks who have never been to Bethlehem, NH, it is a small sleepy, vacation, wonderful type of town. In the summer there are a few big old Inns folks from away used to come to. A few summer camps for kids and plenty of golf courses. Well, that was how it was when I was there in the late 1950's. I am sure it has not changed much. They may even have folks there in the winter now. The chances of Bethlehem producing smog is zip.

[Steve M]

Sorry, Brad. I didn't catch on to the humor of it. It was too early in the morning, still on my first cup of coffee. I should have realized you were joking. I was thinking maybe you knew of a coal fired power plant there or something. Maybe Bethlehem Steel? I'm too smoggy in the morning to be very quick at catching on. You gotta kinda dump hot coffee on my head.
KDT

yea, me too. Brad is usually up at 4:00 am so by 7 he's wide awake. Me, I'm lucky to be up by 7 most days.

[Brad]

yea, me too. Brad is usually up at 4:00 am so by 7 he's wide awake. Me, I'm lucky to be up by 7 most days.

Nope - the alarm goes off at 4:30 AM. I head to work whenever I think I am done and am ready to head out the door. By 7AM I am in the car having finished my first status call.

My kids laugh that this is the new definition of "Bankers' Hours".

[Steve M]

You know, it is sometimes hard to capture humor when reading text. If you are going to be funny, at least post with a or or or maybe a ...lol. Those faces on the right can be very helpful to slow people like me.

[Brad]

You know, it is sometimes hard to capture humor when reading text. If you are going to be funny, at least post with a or or or maybe a ...lol. Those faces on the right can be very helpful to slow people like me.

I agree the little Smiles on the right can help show the real meaning of a post. Since I did include one in my post #7 above, it is clear that before 7AM one is not enough. So, I will work on using more of them for posts that are BC or LAN. That is Before Coffee or Late At Night.

Back on topic - - - I can remember in the mid to late 1970's the water at the lake in Maine was dirty, soapy, and even had orange suds floating on it. Drive across NH and you could smell the pulp mills. We have done a good job since then cleaning up a lot of the area. The lake is pristine clean. Loons are all over the place and the water is clear. The smells of industry have gone down a lot too. We need to keep up the focus and continue to make progress.

[KD Talbot]

No, Bethlehem hasn't changed at all. I'm up every day at 5AM and by 7AM I've been at work for an hour, so Brad's not that far ahead of me. Being up and at work doesn't mean I'm awake, though. I didn't even notice the smiley on his post the first time I read it. I didn't think it was a dumb suggestion, either. Oil furnaces, woodstoves, auto emissions, diesel, etc all contribute to the smog we see. You should see the wood smoke over the ice on my pond when the conditions are right.

KDT

[Steve M]

I don't know anything about Bethlehem so you could tell me it is the dirtiest city in NH and I couldn't argue. I know that wood burning up north is a major contributor to smog in the winter but for me that is a natural smog. The soot or ashes can actually benefit the water and land because of the mineral content. Petroleum based product on the other hand produce smog that is not beneficial to nature. At least not in the short term.

Look at that, all BC!

[Bill O]

Does anybody know how far apart the Ravines Cam and the Presidentials Cam are from Mount Washington? My guess was 5 and 8 miles, respectively.

I wonder because that 3 miles seems to make a huge difference in visibility. Mount Washington is hazy, but still visible from Wildcat, and almost totally obscured from Bretton Woods.

Or, is there a different air mass on that side of the mountain?