Great Smokey Mountains Air Pollution

Air Pollution has had a very damaging effect on our nation most visited National Park, The Great Smokey Mountains. Two areas is has effected dramatically are visibility and vegetation. According to Nps, over the past 50 years “visibility in the southern Appalachians has decreased 40% in winter and 80% in summer.”(1) On an average day once can see up to 25 miles, however, this is quite bad considering normal conditions allow visibility up to 95 miles. When air pollution is at its worst, and the airborne sulfate particles from the burning of fossil fuels are at its peak, visibly can shirk as much as 1 mile. Vegetation on the other hand has also been the victim of air pollution. These ozone pollutants, taking a ride from the prevailing winds, are threatening multiple species of plants and trees. “Thirty species of plants showed leaf damage after being exposed to controlled ozone levels identical to those that occur in the park.” (1). Along with plants, these toxins can affect human health as well.” Not only does this unsightly pollution continue to reduce visibility at national parks, it also poses serious health problems to communities around the country, including asthma, bronchitis, and other serious respiratory ailments.”(2).

Most of the pollution comes from industrial work involving the burning of fossil fuels. “Power plants, automobiles, and factories are the main producers of nitrogen oxides.” (1) These pollutants have a major effect of high-elevation ecosystems. “High ridge top ecosystems at Great Smoky Mountains NP are particularly vulnerable to acid deposition that results from high concentrations of nitrogen and sulfur compounds.”(3) The Great Smokey has the highest level of acid rain of any national park, surpassing its “critcal load”, do to its location, elevation. Do to this, there is limited forest nutrients, pollution in streams, and lastly soils, which is taking the biggest