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Show WedThursFri, December 3-5, 2003 The Park Record B-15 Expert seeks ways to reduce winter smog BOISE, Idaho (AP) Like poet Carl Sandburg's fog, the West's winter win-ter weather inversions steal in "on little cat feet." But the inversions don't stay momentarily and then move on. 'Iliey hang around, trapping smoke and exhaust in the valleys that cradle the region's largest populations. Boise. Salt Lake City. Elko, Nev. Missoula, Mont. Albuquerque. Spokane, Wash, They're all places where smog builds up. visibility goes down and a burning throat and cough are the norm. "Winter inversions are a concern for the western valleys, but it seems Boise is more susceptible to undergoing under-going an inversion than other towns in the Intermountain West," said Boise State mechanical engineering professor Paul Dawson. He has studied the phenomenon for years and sees a way to reduce the gunk in the air as the problem worsens with growth. In 1990, the population of Ada and Canyon counties in the Boise valley was 296,000. It was an estimated 4S5,(XX) by mid-2002. Dawson is in the middle of a two-year two-year study of the valley's inversions, financed by the federal government. When a stagnant system sets up. as it did in late November and early December 2002. .he measures temperatures tem-peratures and winds to correlate how the weather affects the air quality qual-ity :.-rr: . Dawson said the Boise valley has the perfect geological features for prolonged winter inversions. It's ringed by the Boise Front to the east. Owyhee Mountains to the south and Oregon's Blue Mountains to the west, "llie valley acts like a dam with the mountains around it," he said. But certain meteorological events must coincide to" create the inversions. First, he said, are the winter high pressure systems that regularly set up over the Great Basin region, 'llie denser cold air sinks into the valleys, and the high pressure acts as a cap. It traps the wood smoke being pumped from homes and exhaust fumes from automobiles. Visibility drops and temperatures plunge. ( )nly above the cap up a thousand thou-sand feet or so is the sky blue again and temperatures relatively balmy. llie situation can last for days or weeks until another weather system finally drives out the high. In the November 2002 inversion: A high-pressure ridge was present and kicked off the stagnant period. 'Hie pollution started accumulating ji by Thanksgiving, worsened by the fact that more people stay home during the holidays to increase wood smoke emissions. By Dec. 4. pollution hit its highest level in 10 years. Air quality .was unhealthy for the elderly and those with lung ailments. Wtxd burning and open burning were banned, and people were urged to limit driving. "If you put human beings in an ambient environment like an inversion, inver-sion, everybody is affected." said Dale Stephenson, Boise Stale's environmental envi-ronmental health director who is working with Dawson. "You're putting put-ting agents in the lungs that have to be dealt with by the pulmonary system sys-tem to clean them out." On Dec. 7, fug shut down the Boise airport. Dawson said the mist can actually improve the air quality near the surface by forming around- the particulates and dropping them to the ground. Two days later, the high ridge was finally driven east and the valley cleared. Dawson is also working with electrical and computer engineering professor Joe Hart man. who is perfecting per-fecting sensors to gauge air pollution around the Boise Airport for the Federal Avialion Administration. And Boise State is beefing up its computer capability to handle complex com-plex weather modeling. Dawson looks ahead to when that technology will let officials know in advance that inversions are setting up, "If we can use these models mod-els to get a forecast, we can maybe l(Kk a day or two in advance and let managers, local officials know we have a threat coming up. a serious inversion that's going to get stronger." he said, " llial's our goal and our hope." Boise's stagnant conditions could someday force motorists to take public transportation during severe periods and impose limits on industries indus-tries releasing pollutants into the air. Controls on wood burning are already in effect. .Stephenson said Boise's inversions inver-sions arc hard on the elderly with pulmonary problems and on children chil-dren whose pulmonary systems are developing. , Unlike international cilies such as Mexico City where pollution takes a backseat to higher priorities like food and shelter. Stephenson said the American "standard of living liv-ing allows us to be proactive to altack air quality. We're fortunate the United States makes it a priority to do it. Only rich countries can do that." ' Tfo Country tiome SpectaC tfofiday Viscount Thru 12.31.03 The Genuine SXrticCe... authentic Jrench & TngCish country pieces in pine & fruitwoocC, from the i8tfi & 19th ... centuries. 4 ! M f 1 I 'i t. i ni.nnt am"n , f.f I L, .. nit in NEW HOURS: Tuesday - Friday 11 am to 5:30 p.m. 1058 'East 900 Soutfi, SaCt Lake City Just 20 Minutes from TarfiCtty 801-538-0122 Craig Keece, CRS INSPECTING THE ENVIRONMENT When you are involved in the process of buying a home, it is safe to assume that you will probably find one thai you like, make an offer, and purchase it. There are many steps along the vvav, and more and more buyers in today's market want guarantees. Because no home is perfect, inspections by structural engineers often turn up something wrong with the properly you want to buy. Many sales have been halted or delayed because asbestos, lead, or radon was found on the property. If a problem is found with the property you want to buy, ask yourself two questions: 1 ) Can the problem be fixed? If it can, 2) What will it cost to repair it? House inspections exist to tell buyers what is right and wrong with a house, not necessarily to renegotiate the price. If, however, there is a major problem, such as the roof leaking leak-ing or the air conditioning not working, then it might be possible to work with the seller to resolve these issues. An acceptable solution depends on what was disclosed by the seller when the house was listed. .;. . For rock solid advice on buying or selling real estate, call Craig Reece at 435-647-8017 or toll free at 1-800-553-4666. 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