Scientists Fear Impact of Asian Pollutants On US

During the Olympics we discussed the international monitoring effort as China shut down factories and curtailed automobile travel in an attempt to reduce pollution. Now reader Anti-Globalism sends in a story that reveals that monitoring effort to be ongoing, with a bigger mandate: assessing the impact of China's pollution on the US. In fact the problem is bigger still because, as one researcher put it, "It's one atmosphere." Scientists are finding that pollution from, for example, Europe can travel right around the globe in three weeks. "By some estimates more than 10 billion pounds of airborne pollutants from Asia — ranging from soot to mercury to carbon dioxide to ozone — reach the US annually. The problem is only expected to worsen: Some Chinese officials have warned that pollution in their country could quadruple in the next 15 years. While some scientists are less certain, others say the Asian pollution could destabilize weather patterns across the North Pacific, mask the effects of global warming, reduce rainfall in the American West and compromise efforts to meet air-pollution standards."

Comments

Exactly

[Chicken_Kickers]

I almost puked after reading this biased Slashdot article. The US and the Western world have been raping your own environment, and your colonies since the Industrial Revolution and you are now still reaping the benefits of this, channelled into political and military bullying. Who are you to tell "Asians" how to take care of the planet? I smell a political agenda to this so-called finding. The US is scared of an industrialised China and is not above playing dirty to stop it.

Re:not just their pollutants

[Anonymous Coward]

First off, the US is the greatest polluter in the world. The US does not remain the only sweet special industrialized nation that doesn't pollute or something. Get your arrogant head out of your ass.

Second of all, US growth has not been in more control than in China. Your businesses pollute the globe like any other.

You got an A for patriotism though. Tomorrow you can suck Bush' dick.

USA! Look at your own nuke arsenal. Look who's dropped them on earth. Look at your own warfare around the globe. Look at your own civil rights. Look at your own democracy. Look at your own corruption. And lastly, look at your own god damn pollution.

Instead of just pointing to other nations. Fucking hypocrits.

Re:Fortunately

[ScrewMaster]

The USA are poisening the atmosphere with their pollution and were for decades the global "number one" and if you relate pollution to number of people, the USA is still the fat pig - and now the chinese pollution impact on the USA is measured!?

Twit. If you bought any American made products or food in that time, you have no right to complain much. We were also the world's largest exporter of manufactured goods, so we generated a lot of pollution, and made a lot of product which people around the world bought like hotcakes. Just like we're buying Chinese goods now. And like I said in another post, we've cleaned up our act. China has a long way to go.