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Explains how Alberta's air quality is affected by natural factors, like climate and weather, and human factors, such as economic activity and industrial emissions. Long-term air quality data for several important contaminants and Alberta's approach to managing air quality are detailed in the report.
63 pages
The Earth is part of a wonderfully complex solar system. The sun provides us with light and energy; however, not all of it is helpful. The ozone layer is a thin layer in our atmosphere that helps protect us from these harmful UV rays. It captures and reflects UV radiation back in to space, protecting the earth’s surface.
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At higher concentrations, ground-level ozone has adverse human health effects, and is one of the most damaging air pollutants to vegetation. In Canada, federal, provincial and territorial governments are in the process of reviewing ambient national objectives as well as setting new Canada-Wide standards for ozone. Available ambient ozone monitoring information from Alberta has been reviewed, and government agencies, industries and associations involved in monitoring ozone and its precursors have been identified. Also, published literature from Alberta after 1980 has been reviewed.
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This report presents an analysis of ozone data from Alberta air monitoring stations and compares observed data to current and proposed standards. As was found in previous studies, average ground-level ozone concentrations in Alberta are higher in rural areas than in city centres. While rural stations have higher average ozone concentrations, urban stations generally have higher peak ozone levels and more exceedances of the current 1-hour ambient ozone guideline (82 ppb). The high average ozone concentrations in rural areas appear to be mainly a result of downward mixing of upper tropospheric ozone, whereas discrete maximums in urban or industrial areas can be attributed to photochemistry. Most 1-hour exceedances take place in the spring and summer months during the afternoon or early evening.
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Ozone in air at ground-level originates from two sources. Stratospheric ozone (the protective ozone that helps screen the Earth’s surface from UV light) may be brought to ground-level as a result of atmospheric turbulence. Ozone at ground-level is also formed as a consequence of reactions among substances naturally present in the atmosphere, and among substances that are produced by human activity. A powerful oxidant, ozone has the potential to harm natural, agricultural, and horticultural plant species. Research into the effects of ozone has been extensive, but despite this effort, there is still a great deal of uncertainty regarding the levels of ozone that are harmful to plants.
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Alberta Environment has completed five annual assessments of particulate matter (PM) and
ozone data as promised under the Clean Air Strategic Alliance (CASA) Particulate Matter and
Ozone Management Framework.
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PM2.5 is fine particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter. In comparison, a human hair is about 70 micrometers in diameter. These fine particles are small enough to
penetrate the lungs and can be a human health concern, depending on their composition.
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In this report, ultraviolet (UV) radiation refers to solar radiation and will show its three subranges. UVB monitoring has come to be recognized as
a priority by many concerned organizations, including the World Meteorological Organization. The present study uses statistical methods to analyze UVB data from the Edmonton
station, located at Stony Plain. The objective is to determine any trend in
the UVB data and to compare that with observed variation in atmospheric ozone.
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