Environmental Monitoring Because We All Live Downwind

Keynote Speaker
Oral Presentation

Prepared by A. Carlton
University of California at Irvine, 1102 Natural Sciences 2, University of California, Irvine, CA, 92697, United States


Contact Information: agcarlto@uci.edu; 949-824-5651


ABSTRACT

Accurately measuring, properly recording, and effectively communicating environmental data to stakeholders is key to sustainable and healthy communities. The Global society is adapting to the increasing scale of disasters due to increased rates of urbanization, and intensifying climate variables such as higher temperature, extreme precipitation and more violent wind and water storms. The environmental aftermath of extreme events is often poorly documented, however, downwind disaster monitoring is essential and critical to economically, environmentally, and socially healthy resilient communities. In this work we explore the air quality impacts of natural disasters and man-made pollution perturbations in the United States within the past few years. We discuss monitoring data in the context of why Federal and State environmental rules are necessary in the first place. We discuss to what extent existing air quality monitoring programs are sufficient to protect human health. We argue that society may want better protections to safeguard human health from industrial pollution, and in particular, in relation to natural disaster?