NASA: Snow and Haze in Utah – Why Salt Lake City is One of the Most Polluted Cities in the US With a population of 1.2 million people, the Salt Lake City metropolitan area is relatively small. However, outbreaks of smog and particle pollution occasionally make its air among the most polluted in the United States. That was the case between February 2-4, 2023, when data from the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Air Now system measured fine particulate matter (PM2.5) rising […] SnowBrains | February 16, 2023 1 Comment
South Lake Tahoe, CA, Bans Plastic Bottle Sales The South Lake Tahoe City Council voted recently to pass a ban on the local sale of single-use plastic water bottles and updated regulations on polystyrene and plastic food packaging. The bill was first proposed In September, voted into place early in October by the City Council, and appropriately will go into full effect on the next Earth Day (April […] Brains Dana Andresen | October 31, 2022 1 Comment
The 9 Least Polluted States Who doesn’t want clean air and water? Not only do they make life more enjoyable, but they are vital to long-term health. U.S. World and News Reports used data from 2021 to rank states based on air and water quality, as well as pollution levels. Pollution was analyzed based on air and water emissions from industry and utilities. The data […] Industry News Brent Thomas | September 14, 2022 0 Comments
With the Final Push Underway, SCUBA Divers Have Already Removed 18,215 Pounds of Trash from Lake Tahoe Brought to you by the Tahoe Fund TAHOE CITY, Calif. (Nov. 10, 2021) – Despite a summer dive season filled with challenges, the SCUBA dive team that embarked on the effort to clean up Lake Tahoe is now well past the halfway point, having reached the west shore. The team has covered over 43.5 miles of shoreline since the clean-up […] SnowBrains | November 10, 2021 0 Comments
Why the Smoke Pollution From the West is the Worst It’s Been in 10-Years The story ‘Smoke Across North America’ first appeared on NASA Earth Observatory and was written by Adam Voiland. While plumes of wildfire smoke from western North America have passed over the northeastern U.S. and Canada multiple times each summer in recent years, they often go unnoticed. That is because smoke that spreads far from its source typically moves at a fairly […] Fire Firebrains | July 23, 2021 0 Comments
Colorado to Start Banning Plastic Bags in 2024 On average, a typical American family accumulates 60 plastics bags within only four trips to the grocery store, according to Penn State. Within a year, the average American family accumulates almost 1,500. Related: Jackson, WY Just Banned the Free Distribution of Single-Use Plastic Bags While that statistic may not appear too damning, plastic bags are produced with fossil fuels, which […] Industry News Breya Bergom | July 12, 2021 1 Comment
NASA: Local Lockdowns Brought Fast Global Ozone Reductions This article was first published by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at California Institue of Technology When lockdowns during the coronavirus pandemic cut local nitrogen oxide emissions, the effect on ozone pollution was global and unexpectedly rapid. Related: Mount Everest is Visible From Kathmandu, Nepal for First Time in Living Memory As the coronavirus pandemic slowed global commerce to a crawl […] SnowBrains | June 10, 2021 0 Comments
Microplastics Found in Snow in Siberia, Russia Researchers recently found microplastic pollution in Siberia, one of the world’s most remote areas. These recent findings are another example of human pollution permeating the environment. Related: USGS Report: “It’s Raining Plastic”: Microplastics in the Mountains? At Tomsk State University, researchers found airborne plastic fibers in snow samples taken from twenty different Siberian regions. Snow sampled from the Altai Mountains, […] Brains Alex Mangels | March 25, 2021 0 Comments