The sickly shade of yellow haze that formed over Provo earlier this week seemed strangely out of place in a town where we are accustomed to a clear view.
Even though Provo residents and members of the BYU campus continually pump pollutants into the atmosphere, we are unable to see the immediate effect because wind currents sweep the smog away. It takes an extraordinary occurrence to show us what is happening to the environment.
Nobody is necessarily to blame for the inversion that is currently lingering over Utah County; it's purely an act of nature - completely out of our control. The Wasatch Mountains happen to be the optimal environment for cold air to be trapped under warm air. On the other hand, that haze of smog forming beneath the inversion is entirely under our control.
The inversion is trapping smog close to the valley floor that usually disperses throughout the atmosphere. As of Thursday, the Utah Division of Air Quality reported there's an average of 29.2 micrograms of particulate matter per cubic meter of air, which puts Utah County on yellow alert. The longer the inversion hovers above us, the worse the air condition becomes, increasing risks to individuals who suffer from heart problems, asthma and emphysema.
Ken Simmons of the Air Monitoring Center said forecasts predict a wind current should sweep the inversion and smog away Saturday. For now, the short-term hazards of this inversion will eventually abate, but it showed us the impact we have on the atmosphere. We need to learn to consistently minimize the amount of pollutants we expel into the atmosphere, whether there is an inversion or not.
Each day, hundreds of cars converge onto campus. While many students live farther away from campus and need to drive, there is an equally large number of students who drive a few blocks to campus because they are late to class or because 'it's so cold outside.' A student may rationalize that he is only one person driving for a few minutes, but factor in the hundreds of other students who do the same thing and the concentration of air pollutants gradually increases.
It takes so little to make a difference. If you live close to campus, plan ahead and walk so you won't be hurried. We're experiencing a mild December, but if it is a little chilly, remember the Scandinavian saying, 'There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.' Individually, you may think you are not making a tremendous difference, but your efforts multiplied by everyone else's contributions can make a difference.
If each of us makes a concerted effort to consolidate the amount of pollutants we contribute, that unsightly haze will continue to be an infrequent, out-of-place occurrence. If not, we may very well have seen a smoggy future on Provo's horizon.