Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Gollywog]

Think how much hotter it would be here without it.




















(Who says I never say anything nice about Korea?)

[michael5799042]

I never get sunburns here

[Scotticus]

While the rain is certainly keeping the temperature down, my understanding has always been that heavy cloud cover and smog actually trap heat which makes it hotter (or at least equivalent to having the sun beating down on you).

[Guri Guy]

Certainly, the hotter it becomes, the worse the air quality is. Conversely, it appears that the worse the air quality is, the hotter it becomes.
It seems to be a vicious cycle.


Why Do Heat Waves Make Air Quality Worse?
Heat and sunlight make "chemical soup" that affects air quality

By Larry West, About.com


Dear EarthTalk: Why does air quality get so bad during heat waves?
-- Chad Muller, Wellesley, Mass.

Air quality decreases during times of hot temperatures because the heat and sunlight essentially cook the air along with all the chemical compounds lingering within it. This chemical soup combines with the naturally occurring nitrogen oxide in the air, creating a �smog� of ground-level ozone gas.

This makes breathing difficult for those who already have respiratory ailments or heart problems and can also make healthy people more susceptible to respiratory infections.

Air Quality Worse in Urban Areas
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), urban areas are the most susceptible because of all the pollution being emitted from cars, trucks and buses. The burning of fossil fuels at power plants also emits a considerable amount of smog-making pollution.

Geography is also a factor. Broad industrialized valleys penned in by mountain ranges, such as the Los Angeles basin, tend to trap smog, making air quality poor and life miserable for those people working or playing outside on hot summer days.

Air Quality Far Exceeds Healthy Limits
The non-profit watchdog group Clean Air Watch reported that July�s intense heat wave caused a blanket of smog stretching from coast to coast. Some 38 U.S. states reported more unhealthy air days in July 2006 than during the same month the previous year.

And in some particularly at-risk locales, airborne smog levels exceeded the acceptable healthy air quality standard by as much as 1,000-fold.

What You Can Do to Improve Air Quality During a Heat Wave
In light of recent heat waves, the EPA urges urban dwellers and suburbanites to help reduce smog by:

* Using public transit and carpooling to reduce vehicle trips
* Refueling cars at night to prevent escaping gas vapors from getting cooked into smog by sunlight
* Avoiding gas-powered lawn equipment
* Setting air conditioning thermostats a few degrees higher to help reduce the fossil fuel burning needed to power them

How the EPA Plans to Improve Air Quality
For its part, the EPA is quick to point out that the regulations on power plants and car fuels that have been instituted over the last 25 years have significantly reduced smog in American cities. EPA spokesman John Millett says that �ozone pollution concentrations have declined about 20 percent since 1980.�

Millett adds that the agency is in the process of implementing new programs to control emissions from diesel trucks and farming equipment, and is requiring cleaner diesel fuel to help further reduce smog levels. New rules to regulate marine vessels and locomotives should also help minimize future smog alerts.

�Long-term we have made improvements � but this heat wave and the accompanying smog is a very graphic reminder that we still have a significant problem,� says Frank O�Donnell, Clean Air Watch�s president. �Unless we start getting serious about global warming, predicted increases in global temperatures could mean continued smog problems in the future. And that will mean more asthma attacks, disease and death.�

Protect Yourself from Poor Air Quality
People should avoid strenuous outdoor activity during heat waves in areas plagued by smog. For more information, check out the U.S. government�s Ozone and Your Health.

http://environment.about.com/od/healthenvironment/a/air_quality_hea.htm

[blurgalurgalurga]

It makes for some cool sunsets...you can watch the sun go down and stare directly at it sometimes. Looks like a big orange moon. Reeal purdy

[Gollywog]

Where, exactly, does the pollution come from, particularly this time of year? It seems to be everywhere.

Does Korea have as strict emissions controls for vehicles as the U.S, Canada, Europe, etc? Does Korea require catalytic converters?

[michael5799042]

A lot of Koreans blame the pollution on China. It is true that China is a huge burner of coal and that China does not bother much trying to make its emissions cleaner.

Last Monday China began implemebting measures intended to clean the air in Beijing for the Olympics. I know one of the new rules is only allowing cars on the road every second day (depending on their license plate number). They will also be shutting some factories for the Olympics. It will be interesting to see if this helps the air quality in Beijing (and maybe in Korea too!). There is lots of info on the web about air quality in China, but I haven't been able to find much for Korea. Does anybody know any good links for Korean air quality?

[blurgalurgalurga]

Gollywog--
No catalytic converters here as far as I know, and there's a lot of diesel burning vehicles...SUV's, buses, trucks, etc. Also they ride a lot of little two-strokes that burn a lot of oil.
Some industry remains here as well, but I'm pretty sure the vast majority of the air pollution is from vehicles.
I am not confident in the quality of their gasoline either.
No doubt China's a factor, too, but I don't know to what extent exactly. Indisputable though that the wind blows from the west pretty often, so it stands to reason that we'd be huffing a lot of China factory smells. We get the particulate junk from the Gobi, so presumably we'd get other stuff too.
I don't know the wind patterns exactly--sure seems to be a lot more China wind in the spring, but in the summer, I think it comes more from the southeast.

[whatajerk]

http://eng.airkorea.or.kr/

[moosehead]

[Gollywog]

Moosehead wrote:

[moosehead]

well yes, it can dampen one's spirits when it's overcast outside, but c'mon - 30,000 cremations??

that was just during the summer - I think for a year or so they were doing some kind of "relocating" and many more than that were dug up and cremated.

of course it will cause smog -

go back and watch some of the holocaust films - the ashes darkened the skies regularly -

when the WTC came down the smoke drifted for miles whichever direction the wind was blowing - and the smell of putrified flesh came also - was not something one forgets easily.

in the U.S. it's a known fact for years chemical plants wait until there's going to be rain and then they dump wastes to be burned so the rain will bring it down - it lessens their complicity in pollution on an ongoing basis (allegedly anyway).

jees why do you think they call it smog anyway??

[sojourner1]

This is the coolest and wettest July weather I've ever seen. The rivers are fixin to overflow out of their banks. It's big and brown with white cap rapids and tons of trash flowing today. It's pouring cats and dogs these days.

[Gollywog]

Of course, 30,000 cremations would darken the sky for many miles. But the smog I am seeing and hearing about seems to be covering much of the country, and much of the time lately.

A couple of weeks ago we had nice blue skies for several days. And they were scorchers. Once it got smoggy, it cooled off.

I guess some of the smog could be moisture being evaporated out of the soil by the hot weather. And who knows what chemicals lurk in that soil?

I asked some Korean teachers about the gray air, and they had no idea what was causing it. Sometimes you could barely see a hill through the haze only about a mile or two away. They probably hadn't even noticed it, as the smog/haze/miasma is so normal.

[blurgalurgalurga]