Overview

*Please note that this overview should be used in conjunction with the video, which may be Played/Paused at your convenience.

 

Introduction

  • Clearing the Air: We named our project “Clearing the Air” as a fun way to explain that we’re here to “decode” the issue of air quality in our city, prove its importance, and present the solutions
  • What does “poor air quality” mean?
    • Poor air quality is the result of a number of factors, including emissions from various sources, both natural and “human-caused.” Poor air quality occurs when pollutants reach high enough concentrations to endanger human health and/or the environment.
  • Why improve air quality? By improving the air quality, we can achieve the following:
    • save lives
    • extend lifespan
    • better health of NYC residents
    • quality of life
  • Standards – we hardly meet the city’s standards, and don’t even meet the country’s! we have made much improvement, but we still need more!
  • Hearing from the experts
    • Dr. Holger Eisl: works at the Barry Commoner Center for Health and the Environment at Queens College. He is a co-director of the New York City Community Air Survey, which works with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to test the city’s air quality, identify the main pollutants, and work for solutions to create a cleaner, greener city.
    • Dr. Esther Muehlbauer: biologist at Queens College and regular bike-rider and concerned New Yorker, Dr. Muehlbauer researches salt marshes in Long Island along with teaching courses in various topics
  • PlaNYC 2030: a plan set by Mr. Bloomberg (former mayor of NYC) to improve New York City’s environment and to go above and beyond the standards
    • Goal to achieve by 2030: Achieve the cleanest air quality of any big U.S. city.

 

Table:

  • This diagram, as obtained from the New York City Community Air Survey, serves as an overview for the recent achievements in improving our city’s air quality.

 

What Contributes to Poor Air Quality

  • In the following video clip, Dr. Eisl was referring to PM 2.5.
    • This stands for Particulate Matter 2.5 which is a complex mixture of extremely small particles and liquid droplets. It is made up of a number of components including acids, organic chemicals, metals, and soil or dust particles and can have diameters between 2.5 and 10 micrometers. The following picture illustrates how small PM 2.5 is relative to human hair, which has a diameter of 50-70 microns. The picture on the right illustrates how the particles of PM 2.5 are so small that they travel all the way down to the alveoli in lungs. Because of its significant health impacts, PM 2.5 has been referenced as a standard in assessing air quality.

 

    • Over half of our particulate matter originates outside the city and some pollution drifts from traffic, industry, heating oil/boilers, and power plants to surrounding neighborhoods.

 

    • Emission from buildings also serve as significant source of local air pollution in NYC. We consume 1 billion gallons of heating oil annually which is more than any other city in the U.S. Burning heating fuels accounts for nearly 14% of fine particulate matter pollutants emitted in New York City.

 

What are the current consequences of air pollution?

  • As Dr. Eisl was alluding to the the current problems associated with air pollution, it was found that air pollution contributes to an estimated 6% of annual deaths (NYC Environmental Protection)
  • Stemming from expansive urban development, increased usage of motor vehicles, and improper disposal of environmental hazards, many individuals have acquired numerous health issues
  • It was found that each year, particulate matter pollution (PM 2.5) in NYC causes more than 3,000 deaths, 2,000 hospital admissions, and approximately 6,000 emergency department visits for medical emergencies ranging from asthma and cardiac conditions among children and adults.
  • By examining the five air pollutants (Ozone, PM2.5, Nitrogen Dioxide, Sulfur Dioxide, and Carbon Monoxide) in four NY counties (Bronx, Kings, New York, and Queens) there is an association between all pollutants and asthma hospital emissions (Restrepo, Simonoff, Thurston, Zimmerman 1114). Dr. Eisl further expands on this concept in our next video clip.

 

What neighborhoods are most affected?

Here’s a map of all of nyc and the Sulfur Oxide levels throughout taken from Dr. Eisl’s research, showing that even though some parts of manhattan have a higher concentration, realistically, all of NYC is plagued by these high SOx levels. These graphs also show the decrease of SO2 levels

 

Resolving the issue

  • PlaNYC 2030 was put into place to sets new standards for the city.
  • One goal was to reduce emissions from cars
    • Possible solutions include using and promoting the use of hybrid Cars
    • Idleness describes the time a car stays on without moving
      • Laws were implemented to limit the legal idleness time to 3 minutes
      • Programs push and support people reporting idle cars to 311
    • Bike riding – the city has the CitiBike program that promotes bike-riding even to those who don’t own a bike
  • Boiler Conversions – and Fuel Sulfur Restrictions
    • Reduces Sulfur Oxide Levels
  • Pictures: Top is PM2.5 emissions from buildings before boiler conversions, and bottom is PM2.5 emissions from buildings after conversion (they converted the fuels they use, Racheal will be discussing this soon)

 

Images of the NYCCAS:

    • The New York City Community Air Survey is used to test the quality of air around NYC
    • NYCCAS air pollution measurements are taken at about 100 locations throughout New York City in each season.
    • The NYCCAS measures these chemicals:
      • Fine particles (PM2.5)
      • Nitrogen oxides (NOx)
      • Elemental carbon (EC)
      • Metals in particles
      • Sulfur dioxide (SO2)
      • Ozone (O3)

The picture on the left are sites where the NYCCAS measures air pollution and the picture on the right shows somebody setting up the monitor.

 

The next slide:

  • This is one of the testing sites for the NYCCAS is located on QC as The Mobile Air Lab

 

Conclusion

  • From the Winter of 2008-2009 to the Winter 2012-2013, sulfur oxide concentrations generated from the burning of sulfur containing fuels, fell by 69 % while levels of nickel declined by 35%.
  • Neighborhoods that implemented boiler conversions and fuel sulfur restrictions experienced the greatest improvement in air quality.

→ NYCCAS pushed politicians to have the DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) require big buildings to switch from burning fuel #6 – which is a heavy tar-like bunker fuel with high viscosity – to fuel #4, fuel #2, or natural gases.

  • It is estimated that the improvements made at the federal, state, and local levels will contribute to 780 fewer deaths and over 2,000 fewer emergency hospitalization visits for respiratory and cardiovascular problems each year.
  • In our interview with Dr. Eisl, some suggestions he gave us to further reduce air pollution in NYC included:

→ Plans to divert truck traffic from residential areas to commercial areas.

→ Because New York City is surrounded by the East and Hudson Rivers, he then suggested the idea to use marine transportation to the Huntspoint Market.

→ He also advocates for the use of subways and bikes instead of cars

→ He recommended the implementation of an electricity-powered trolley system

 

References

 

“Air Pollution.” Air Pollution. NYC Environmental Protection, 2014. Web. 8 Nov. 2014.

  1. Restrepo, J. Simonoff, G. Thurston and R. Zimmerman, “Asthma Hospital Admissions and              Ambient Air Pollutant Concentrations in New York City,” Journal of Environmental                    Protection, Vol. 3 No. 9A, 2012, pp. 1102-1116. doi: 10.4236/jep.2012.329129.

Eisl, Holger, John Gorczynski, and Steven Markowitz. “The New York City Community Air Survey.” Nyc.gov. NYC.gov, 1 Apr. 2015. Web. 11 May 2015.

PlaNYC. Rep. New York: City of New York, 2014. Progress Report 2014. The City of New York Mayor Bill De Blasio, 2014. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.