A look back at this month 20 years ago in EM Magazine: November 1999

摘要

The November 1999 issue of EM tackled thecombustible subject of wildfire, a problem that remainsa serious concern two decades later. Fire is a naturalcomponent of most forest ecosystems. But how does it affectambient air quality and visibility? And how should fire bemanaged to keep air pollution at acceptable levels?These and other questions were addressed in the article,Where There’s Fire, There’s Smoke, by Douglas G. Fox,et al. The authors summarized data from the IMPROVE networkof air quality monitoring sites associated with the U.S.Class I areas, illustrating that organic carbon is a significantcontributor to impaired visibility at U.S. national parks andwilderness areas. Although not the only source, forest andagricultural fire emissions contribute to organic carbon levelsand should be considered in efforts to reduce regional haze.