TORONTO – Smog advisories are still deadly despite the fact that they have become less frequent in the last few years.
Despite the reduced smog, the pollution can still wreak havoc on a person’s health, accounting for thousands of deaths a year, according to experts.
Much of southern Ontario has been under a smog advisory since Sunday when the warm weather swept into the Greater Toronto Area.
According to data from the Ministry of the Environment, there were just two advisories for Toronto in 2011.
In 2007, there were 11 – in effect for 29 total days – a number that has been dropping significantly since.
Smog advisories in Ontario are issued after consultation between the Ministry of the Environment and Environment Canada.
According to Geoff Coulson from Environment Canada, recent warm weather and low winds creates an environment where smog can accumulate.
“What we’ve had over the last couple of days, an area of high-pressure has dominated the weather, the wind has been relatively light, and that allowed pollutants to build up in the low levels of the atmosphere,” Coulson said.
Get breaking National news
While warm, stagnant weather creates the conditions for smog to accumulate over Toronto, southerly winds from the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi Valley, the Ohio Valley, Sarnia and Windsor carry with them pollutants that, together with warm stagnant air, create smog.
“The chemicals are changing their form with heat,” Dr. Miriam Diamond, a professor in the University of Toronto’s Department of Geography and Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry. “The sun is literally cooking the chemicals, and creates a more toxic mix of chemicals, than you would have without the sun cooking it.”
According to a spokesperson for the Ministry of the Environment, up to 50 per cent of the smog in Ontario results from dirty air being brought north from the United States.
Though much of the pollution is emitted in the United States, Torontonians contribute a significant amount of the pollution that creates the smog advisory.
“It’s us, it’s turning on our air conditioners to cope with an overheated climate, that in turn makes our air bad to breathe,” said Diamond. “Not only does it make it bad to breathe, but it increases greenhouse gas emissions.”
Cars, off-road equipment that utilizes diesel and gasoline, residential and commercial use of oil, natural gas, industrial operations, and electricity generation all contribute to pollution, according to the Clean Air Partnership, a Toronto-based charity promoting air quality.
Though electricity generation causes a significant portion of the pollution, it has decreased significantly in recent years.
The decreased demand in electricity generation in both Ontario and the U.S. has contributed to smog advisories becoming less frequent since 2007/2008, according to Gabrielle Kalapos, a representative of the Clean Air Partnership.
“The phasing out of coal-fired power plants in Ontario has been a significant improvement,” said Kalapos. “Any reduction in coal-fired power plants is going to have a real positive impact on improving air quality.”
Environmental policy and regulation in both Canada and the U.S. has also been successful in contributing to cleaner air, according to Miriam Diamond.
Health Effects
Smog can also have a tremendously adverse affect on a person’s health, and some startling figures from the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) and Toronto Public Health show thousands of deaths a year stemming from chemicals involved in pollution.
According to a 1998 report from the OMA, roughly 900 people a year die from particulate matter – one component of air pollution.
Research done for Toronto Public Health contends that roughly 1,700 premature deaths a year in the GTA are associated with six common pollutants that create smog.
According to Kapalos, smog affects the body primarily in two different areas – the respiratory system, and the cardiovascular system.
Comments