(1) Introduction
Air pollution is the introduction of particulates, biological molecules, and many harmful substances into the earth’s atmosphere. All these substances are growing threats to human health and natural environment and it is mostly an impact caused by human actions. Since the industrial revolution, the world saw a huge increase in the usage of chemicals and fossil fuels to drive the majority of our energy usage. Pollution levels has only risen since then and have never seen a sign of reduction.
The 1960s marked the beginning of modern environmental policy making, these policies are used to direct and oversee human activities in order to prevent or reduce hazardous effects on the environment and human health. During that time, President Nixon signed the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) which established a national policy into protecting the environment, this results in the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and The Clean Air Act which are still present and active to this date. Without proper control and regulation upon air pollution will result in a terrible outcome both to humans and the environment. Therefore, the question raised during the brainstorming session in lab was “Are environmental regulations and policies on air pollution level effective.” (2) Methods To examine and study the question, the data on air pollution of two locations in California are observed and studied, one being Downtown Los Angeles and the other being the San Pedro Bay Port. The environmental policy on air pollutions implemented in these two locations are the air quality improvement program (AQIP) implemented on 2006 in downtown and the San Pedro Bay Ports clean air action plan (CAAP) implemented on 2006. Both these policies have a similar motive which is to reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses to the respective area. The data of two separate years were observed in each of the locations, the first year being before the policy is issued while the second year being some years after the policy is implemented. …show more content…
The pinpoint location nearest to the affected area (Downtown Los Angeles & San Pedro Bay) were selected and the daily data before and after the policy was implemented were downloaded and compared. This can be done by plotting the AQI values and the day of the year and then taking the average value of the AQI of the pollutant substance to determine if there are any changes in the parameters. From the plot, the highest and lowest AQI value can also be determined by finding the highest point in the plot.
(3) Results
There are no particular trends observed in the data as the emission deviates all year round and there are no significant events that affected the data throughout the years. The main purpose of the plot and data is to observe and compare the mean, highest and lowest AQI values before and after the policies were implemented which will then determine the effectiveness of the policies on air pollution level. Section 3.1 and 3.2 compares the effects of environmental policies on air pollution level in different locations respectively.
3.1 Results of San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan
Figure 1. AQI based on Diesel Particulate Matter (PM10/PM2.5) emission as a function of time of year in the year 2004
Mean AQI: 54.756
Standard Deviation: 22.164
Highest AQI: 153
Lowest AQI:
Air pollution is the introduction of particulates, biological molecules, and many harmful substances into the earth’s atmosphere. All these substances are growing threats to human health and natural environment and it is mostly an impact caused by human actions. Since the industrial revolution, the world saw a huge increase in the usage of chemicals and fossil fuels to drive the majority of our energy usage. Pollution levels has only risen since then and have never seen a sign of reduction.
The 1960s marked the beginning of modern environmental policy making, these policies are used to direct and oversee human activities in order to prevent or reduce hazardous effects on the environment and human health. During that time, President Nixon signed the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) which established a national policy into protecting the environment, this results in the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and The Clean Air Act which are still present and active to this date. Without proper control and regulation upon air pollution will result in a terrible outcome both to humans and the environment. Therefore, the question raised during the brainstorming session in lab was “Are environmental regulations and policies on air pollution level effective.” (2) Methods To examine and study the question, the data on air pollution of two locations in California are observed and studied, one being Downtown Los Angeles and the other being the San Pedro Bay Port. The environmental policy on air pollutions implemented in these two locations are the air quality improvement program (AQIP) implemented on 2006 in downtown and the San Pedro Bay Ports clean air action plan (CAAP) implemented on 2006. Both these policies have a similar motive which is to reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses to the respective area. The data of two separate years were observed in each of the locations, the first year being before the policy is issued while the second year being some years after the policy is implemented. …show more content…
The pinpoint location nearest to the affected area (Downtown Los Angeles & San Pedro Bay) were selected and the daily data before and after the policy was implemented were downloaded and compared. This can be done by plotting the AQI values and the day of the year and then taking the average value of the AQI of the pollutant substance to determine if there are any changes in the parameters. From the plot, the highest and lowest AQI value can also be determined by finding the highest point in the plot.
(3) Results
There are no particular trends observed in the data as the emission deviates all year round and there are no significant events that affected the data throughout the years. The main purpose of the plot and data is to observe and compare the mean, highest and lowest AQI values before and after the policies were implemented which will then determine the effectiveness of the policies on air pollution level. Section 3.1 and 3.2 compares the effects of environmental policies on air pollution level in different locations respectively.
3.1 Results of San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan
Figure 1. AQI based on Diesel Particulate Matter (PM10/PM2.5) emission as a function of time of year in the year 2004
Mean AQI: 54.756
Standard Deviation: 22.164
Highest AQI: 153
Lowest AQI: