THEY PAVED PARADISE:

Pavement Contributes To Poor Air Quality: Paved roads and sprawl are likely to blame for summertime smog buildup. (David Biello, June 12, 2011, Scientific American)

Sprawl isn't just eating up the countryside—it's also blocking the breezes that would otherwise clear out air pollution. That's according to a new study of Houston from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, to be published in the Journal of Geophysical Research.

Sprawl is first and foremost about pavement leading to all those subdivisions, strip malls and suburbs. That pavement soaks up heat during the day and releases it at night, warming the otherwise cooler nighttime air. It's known as the urban heat island effect.

In Houston, this causes a smaller than usual difference between the temperatures of the land and the sea at night. And that means weaker sea breezes to clear away the smog.

Scientific fact: Roads are anti-human.

Posted by oj at June 13, 2011 6:28 AM
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