6/30: Haze pollution

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[IMG]pictures/newark1.jpg[/IMG]

Look closely at these two images and you see a difference. In the top image, you can see the NYC skyline in the background. In the bottom image, you can't. The city is gone!

These two shots were taken from a webcam in Newark, seven miles from that skyline, and they show the effect of haze.

Haze is a type of air pollution. Turns out that sulfur in fuels is released into the air as little particles. These particles then absorb water vapor and - this is the trick - grow to about the same size as the wavelength of visible light. So they scatter light into white murkiness, and that light doesn't reach your eyes. Thus, the city disappears.

All that noted, air pollution is much better today than it was 30 years ago.