Every year when the weather turns warm, my family and I lug out our barbecue grill, fire up the charcoal, and feast on burgers and chicken. Summer wouldn't be summer without smoke wafting across our backyard and the smell of sizzling meat in the air. Our occasional weekend cookouts probably don't warrant much environmental hand-wringing. But multiply our summer fun by millions of families, and this all-American tradition begins to look a little less wholesome. Nationwide, the estimated 60 million barbecues held on the Fourth of July alone consume enough energy—in the form of charcoal, lighter fluid, gas, and electricity—to power 20,000 households for a year. That one day of fun, food, and celebration, says Tristram West, a research scientist with the U.S. Department of Energy, burns the equivalent of 2,300 acres of forest and releases 225,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide. It also produces other air pollutants—including a few that might surprise you.
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