GLOBAL AIR POLLUTION AND FOREST HEALTH NOTES

These notes present a snapshot of the global nature of serious air pollution as well as the accelerating damage it is causing to forest ecosystems. While not all the forest health problems described below can be linked to air pollution, the following information should leave no doubt in anyone's mind that air pollution along with air pollution induced global climate change are having severe and widespread effects on ecosystems around the world. - Gerry Hawkes

Since virtually all scientists and much of the public now agree that there is an urgent need to curb emissions of greenhouse gases and since the volume of news regarding the serious environmental consequences has become overwhelming, it now makes sense to devote as much time as possible to working on ways to slow and mitigate the damage from air pollution rather than sounding the alarm. Therefore these pages will be left on the Web, but little new information will be added. - Gerry Hawkes ~ February 2006

AIR POLLUTION AND FOREST HEALTH NOTES
FROM AROUND THE WORLD
NOTES PRESENTED ALPHABETICALLY BY STATE, PROVINCE, COUNTRY OR REGION
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. . . a group of scientists in Australia and Canada say that drought may have been triggered by tiny particles of sulfur dioxide spewed by factories and power plants thousands of miles away in North America, Europe and Asia.

. . . .
Scientists studying the world's tropical rainfall determined that a storm over a populated area in Africa may generate only half the rain as the same kind of storm over the ocean.

A main reason is smoke pollution, according to lead scientist Daniel Rosenfeld, a professor of meteorology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

"The smoke and pollution particles, when going into the clouds, distribute the water into many small droplets. They are so small that they are very slow into combining into raindrops and other icy precipitation particles," Rosenfeld said.

Clouds formed in dirty air "produce as little as half of the rainfall from clouds of the same size in clean air," he said. Other factors contribute to the drought as well. For example, desert dust in the clouds makes them less efficient rain producers, according to the three-year study.
. . . .
The report observations come from data obtained from a satellite in low-Earth orbit, launched jointly by Japan and the United States in 1997. Called Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), the orbiter scans and maps tropical storms with radar and microwave instruments from an altitude of 217 miles (350 km).

GLOBAL WARMING LEADS TO FOREST DEATH
Excerpted from
Climate Change Impacts on the United States
The Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change
Overview: Alaska
By the National Assessment Synthesis Team, US Global Change Research Program
Published in 2000

Alaska has warmed substantially over the 20th century, particularly over the past few decades.

Recent warming has also been accompanied by unprecedented increases in forest disturbances, including insects, blow-downs and fire. A sustained infestation of spruce bark beetles, which in the past have been limited by cold, has caused widespread tree deaths over 2.3 million acres on the Kenai Peninsula since 1992, the largest loss to insects ever recorded in North America. At the same time, increases in blow-downs from intense windstorms, and in canopy breakage from the heavy snows typical of warm winters may have increased vulnerability of forests to insect attack. Significant increases in fire frequency and intensity, both related to summer warming, have also occurred.

ANCHOR POINT, Alaska, June 13 — To live in Alaska when the average temperature has risen about seven degrees over the last 30 years means learning to cope with a landscape that can sink, catch fire or break apart in the turn of a season.

. . . on the Kenai Peninsula, a recreation wonderland a few hours' drive from Anchorage, it means living in a four-million-acre spruce forest that has been killed by beetles, the largest loss of trees to insects ever recorded in North America, federal officials say. Government scientists tied the event to rising temperatures, which allow the beetles to reproduce at twice their normal rate.

. . . Among the consequences, Senator Stevens says, are sagging roads, crumbling villages, dead forests, catastrophic fires and possible disruption of marine wildlife.

. . . Other forests, farther north, appear to be sinking or drowning as melting permafrost forces water up.

. . . Sea ice off the Alaskan coast has retreated by 14 percent since 1978, and thinned by 40 percent since the mid-1960's, the federal report says

. . . North of Fairbanks, roads have buckled, telephone poles have started to tilt, and homeowners have learned to live in houses that are more than a few bubbles off plumb. Everyone, it seems, has a story.

Between January 31st and March 7th, 3,275-square-kilometers of the Larsen B ice shelf disintegrated. While unusual in style, this event follows a pattern of retreat on this eastern Peninsula ice-shelf first identified by glaciologists from the Argentine Antarctic Institute.

The break-up of the floating ice mass, which had survived thousands of years of climate variations, comes at the end of one of the warmest summers on record around the Antarctic Peninsula.
. . .
An international group of scientists has been investigating ice-shelf breakup events and all agree, regional climate warming is at the heart of the recent changes.

. . . The B-22 iceberg, located below and to the left of image center, measures approximately 82 kilometers long x 62 kilometers wide.
. . .
Antarctic researchers have reported an increase in the frequency of iceberg calvings in recent years. Whether this is the result of a regional climate variation, or connected to the global warming trend, has not yet been established.

In Asia, rapid urbanization, with the associated growth in industry and transportation systems, has increased regional concerns with regard to emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. According to one recent estimate, at the current growth rate of energy consumption, by the year 2000 sulfur dioxide emissions will surpass the emissions of North America and Europe combined. The primary man-made source of sulfur and nitrogen in the Asia-Pacific region is fossil fuel combustion in the energy, industry and transportation sectors.
.. . . .
Once sulfur and nitrogen compounds have been emitted to the atmosphere, concentrations of gases and acidic deposition cause impacts to the local environment. Atmospheric transport and chemical transformation of the pollutants can also lead to deposition causing impacts far from the point of emission. Nitrogen and sulfur pollutants cause acidification of lakes and soils and impacts on human health, crop productivity, forest growth, biodiversity and man-made materials.

There was initial skepticism in Europe concerning the effects of long-range transboundary air pollution. This was overcome by research into causes and effects of air pollutant damage on ecosystems.
. . . .
Soil acidification and concentrations of pollutant gases have been implicated in the `new type of forest decline that has occurred in Europe and parts of North America. In Poland 3-5 million hectares of forest and over 1 million in the Czech Republic have shown signs of extensive damage with 60-80 per cent of the trees having died . This forest damage has increased in Europe since the 1970s. It is linked to sulfur dioxide and ozone concentrations in the air as well as changes in plant nutrient availability and increases in toxic aluminum in the soil caused by acidification. There are now reports of forest decline in China and Japan associated with increasing air pollution. Where liming is not practiced, soil acidification may lead to crop yield reductions in areas with sensitive soils . Acidification is a cumulative process, which means that the damage from current deposition only becomes apparent at a later stage when, even with considerable abatement, ecosystems will take decades or centuries to recover. Some ecosystems can also become irreparably damaged. It is therefore advantageous to avoid these impacts rather than ameliorating them, as has happened in Europe and North America.

The accumulation of nitrogen in ecosystems has also led to damaging changes in the health and biodiversity of plant communities . . . .
. . . .
In 2025 projected emissions in Asia are approximately three times those of 1990 and in 2050, according to these projections, the situation could become even worse.
. . . .
Under the CDS scenario the density of emissions projected for 2025 in China and South Asia are as high as those typical of central Europe where the worst damage has occurred

click on the title above for a photo of the Brown cloud reaching up to the top of the Himalayas

Pollution in southern Asia is a regional and a global menace, according to scientists working for the United Nations.

They say the region's brown haze affects rainfall and farming, and puts hundreds of thousands of people in jeopardy.
. . . .

Air pollution from Melbourne and the Latrobe Valley power stations has been blamed for a long-term reduction in rainfall over the Victorian alps, which in turn is contributing to degradation of rivers and lakes across south-eastern Australia.
. . . .

SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- New figures have confirmed the devastating impact of the drought on Australian farm output, with the country's winter grain harvest falling 61 percent over the previous year. Australia has been the world's No. 2 wheat exporter in recent years, but the long-running drought is cutting deep into its export capacity.
. . . .
The 2002 result is a sharp contrast to the record 39.6 million tonne harvest in 2001.
. . . .
"After a low winter grains harvest, there is little relief in sight for summer crop producers."
. . . .

Torrential weekend downpours in eastern Australia are boosting hopes that the worst drought in 100 years is on its way out. Further heavy rain is forecast for drought-stricken regions over the next few weeks.
. . . .

. . . .

there is another deadly culprit at work that is slowly denuding the forests of the Sunderbans, Cox's Bazar, Sylhet and in northern parts of Bangladesh much beyond our knowledge. The disease called "the dying forest syndrome" which in the Sunderbans is known as "top dying disease" strikes selectively but with deadly effect. The onset of the disease starts with the dark green branches hanging limply. Between five weeks and three years later, the branches are tinged yellow and then brown. The weakened tree soon drops its needles and eventually stops growing new ones. It becomes leafless at the top and appears stunted. Finally drought, insects, and parasites finish off the weakened plant.

In parts of Africa, Europe and most notably in the Sunderbans in Bangladesh, the dying forest syndrome causing death of trees has come up as a big environmental disaster. The epidemic of dying trees which has struck the forest resources of the world appears to be quite mysterious. But the most convincing evidence points to air pollution, specially sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen spewed in the air by the ton from electrical generating stations, industrial boilers, smelting plants and automobiles located thousands of miles away. One school of thought points out, by itself sulfur dioxide can sap the vitality of the tree;.so can oxides of nitrogen. But the real problem seems to begin when two gases work in combination in the atmosphere. Hurled into the air by tall smokestacks, the substances mix with water vapour to form sulfuric acid and nitric acid known as acid rain and in the presence of sunlight turn into oxidants such as ozone. When these new chemical mixtures fall to earth as snow or rain or float into forests as wind or fog, they can be far more lethal than the ingredients that went into them.

Acid rain, in the form of dry particles, snow and fog, attacks a tree on all fronts. Airborne pollution settles first on the highest treetops of the forest crown, which acts as a natural windbreak. Acid precipitation filters down to the soil, eats away at the root system and eventually leaches out key nutrients such as calcium and potassium and mobilises toxic metals like aluminum. Once on a leaf or needle, acid rain disrupts the operation of the stomata, the tiny openings that permit a tree to "breathe." The process of photosynthesis is thrown off balance, and subtle changes take place in the internal chemistry of the tree that result in discolouration and premature aging. Finally acid rain washes away vital nutrients from the leaves and needles so that the tree slowly starves to death, its respiratory, circulatory and digestive systems being crippled. Much like an AIDS victim whose immune system has broken down, the ailing tree is defenceless against the ravages of nature.

Experts now say that precipitation these days has become more acidic since the onset of the industrial revolution in the mid 19th century. Measured on a chemical scale of pH from 0 to 14 (most acidic to most alkaline), acid rain is defined as precipitation below 5.6. In most of the industrialised countries of Europe, rainfall now has a pH between 4.5 and 5.5. In some parts of Italy, it has been recorded as low as 2.6 or acidic than table vinegar, which has a pH of about 2.9.

What makes tracking down the cause of toxic poisoning so frustratingly difficult is the caprice of the wind. Modern smokestacks rising more than 1200ft, may spare the surrounding countryside. But they can emit pollutants high into the air, where they travel along wind-formed "skyways" that can carry them hundreds of miles even beyond the country that produced them. That answers the dilemma of the non-industrialised countries like Bangladesh who are not sinners but have to pay a heavy price for other's faults. ... The dying forest has had a greater importance to the Germans than any other issue. They look at forests as being more important than their own health That leads us to think how much oblivious and unconcerned we are about the depletion of our forest resources through factors like dying forest syndrome or top dying disease . . . . . .

STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED
by The CLMA/NFPA Mountain Pine Beetle Emergency Task Force
from Fall 2000 Update and supporting reports

The largest epidemic of mountain pine beetle in the province’s history has spread over an area of more than 5.7 million hectares (ha) creating a state of emergency in the working forests in BC’s west-central interior. The epidemic quadrupled last year and it continues to expand, ravaging forests and leaving dead, red topped trees in its wake.
. . . .
Mountain pine beetles are a natural part of lodgepole pine ecosystems. At normal population levels the beetle performs valuable functions, helping to cull older trees and trees with root disease, opening up pine stands to increase bio-diversity and allowing wildlife habitat to develop.

British Columbia forest with large numbers of dead and dying lodgepole pine trees due to an infestation of mountain pine beetles. Epidemic infestations of the beetles have affected over 500,000 hectares of forest in 2001. In the past, most of the beetles were killed by freezing winter temperatures each year, thus keeping their numbers in check, but milder winters in recent years due to global warming have allowed the beetles to survive during winter, thus greatly increasing their population. Warming temperatures and drought due to global warming are also stressing the trees, making them more susceptible to damage by the beetles, which can be spread by logging trucks carrying infested logs.
~ caption of a photo that can viewed at http://eces.org/gallery/forestsgfx/forests21.shtml

We at Bioscape Inc. have always strived to provide the highest quality of horticulturally correct information, even though the information at the time has not been popular or supported by other professionals and or academics. However, we also feel that a difference of opinion is an essential and healthy part of the scientific process. We have not been a willing participant in the recommendation of applying a toxic pesticide called Astro or Dragnet, as an integral part of a program to save trees by repelling beetles. We have always made it clear to our clients, that this operation was not the proper way to manage this difficult complex that kills valued oak trees. Fortunately due to a study that Bioscape assisted in, this recommendation has been abandoned! Now, we have assembled our own integrated or IPM management plans to help keep oaks and other trees alive. Our program has changed. As a result of our independent studies, our professional opinion is that our trees are being predisposed by primary environmental factors like: acid rain,acid fog, nitrate deposition and ozone. Soils are also being rapidly depleted of valuable nutrients like calcium and phosphorous at alarming rates! This is predisposing oak trees to infestations by a secondary fungus and beetles. . Our program now has evolved into a nutritional program whereby we are working with the inherent phosphorous deficiency that most all oaks have developed. Why have they developed a serious phosphorous deficiency? The answer is in the soil, which has been seriously impacted by acidic precipitation and acid fog in this area. According to the National Atmospheric Deposition Network the rain in this area is about the ph of vinegar. Our lab tests taken at our 500-acre research site for the past 2 years indicate extremely acidic soils and elevated toxic aluminum levels in soils and trees. What this means to trees is sudden root death. Also, excessive nitrate deposition has affected the mycorrhizae in the soil that oak trees depend on for their ability to absorb water and nutrients. There is also a dysfunction called aluminum toxicity that is affecting roots. Aluminum is normally unavailable to roots, but becomes available and toxic at low ph. Our program has now evolved into a nutritional program whereby the nutritional needs of oaks are met first, then a soil-rebuilding program using rock dust and humates are utilized to replace valuable nutrients in the soil. The addition of this rock dust remineralizes the soil and corrects decades of mineral depletion in soils. . The microinjection of oaks and other trees with our patented phosphite fertilizer serves to stabilize the tree. This injection immediately enters the tree and begins restoring the trees ability to function again. Phosphorous is an essential element for trees and critical for root production. Not only does phosphite help roots , but is actually beneficial to the regeneration of mycorrhizae on the roots of oaks and other trees.


DEAD OAK		RESEARCH SITE		BLEEDING OAK		NEW GROWTH		FUNGUS TESTS

I have spoken with many old time foresters and arborists here in N. California who say they have seen the symptoms of this pathogen in oak trees for decades. It is only recently that the fungus has been able to " express itself " and now the trees have become susceptible due to other predisposing factors."

ARE REDWOODS STARTING TO WEAKEN AND DIE FROM CHRONIC EXPOSURE TO AIR POLLUTION?
Is this weakening allowing Phytophthora ranorum, the fungus responsible for sudden oak death to attack?

California's awe-inspiring redwoods may be susceptible to a fast- spreading new disease that has already killed tens of thousands of oaks and other trees and infected many plant species in the state, according to preliminary findings by University of California scientists

. . . Even the most cautious researchers noted that if redwoods are at risk, the ramifications would be huge.

. . . Redwoods are a crucial species in the coastal forest ecosystem, dominating the upper layers of the forest canopy.

SEQUOIA AND KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARKS BIOSPHERE RESERVE
http://216.239.39.100/search?q=cache:8Q4tjCD0yngC:www.euromab.org/brprogram/success/californ.html+redwoods+%22air+pollution%22&hl=en

Major Issues: Air Pollution: There are many threats that face the resources of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Many of these threats are linked to air pollution which in turn effects visibility, air quality, water quality, plants and animals. The combination of high mountains and frequent inversion layers trap particulates and gasses forming a dark brown haze making visibility impairment a serious problem. Ozone injury occurs to Jeffrey and ponderosa pine where high ambient ozone levels (>60 parts per billion) are found. Ambient ozone levels recorded at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks are among the highest levels recorded in the National Park System (>120 parts per billion). Air pollution is responsible for acid deposition and increased nutrient loading on Sierran ecosystems. Current concerns are that there is a broader range of subtle effects of air pollution on ecosystems.

Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations have risen by thirty percent since the pre-industrial era and are currently at 358 ppm. Over the last several decades, atmospheric nitrogen is being deposited at alarming rates due to automobile emissions, industrial pollution, and agricultural industry. Native ecosystems are typically carbon- and nitrogen-limited, and they have adapted ecological strategies to overcome these limitations. However, the excess availability of CO2 and input of available nitrogen into native ecosystems has the potential to drastically change community structure and ecological functioning. This study examines the soil and microbial ecology related to Mediterranean oaks in response to elevated CO2 and nitrogen deposition.

~ from Pollution, Toxic Waste Eat Away at U.S. National Parks ~ Tuesday, May 8, 2001

In California's Yosemite National Park, air pollution from millions of cars is affecting views, wildlife and forests.

Researchers have discovered that a significant decline in lung function growth among southern California children correlates with air pollution.
(see http://unisci.com/stories/20004/1019001.htm for article in Daily University Science News ~ original report in the October issue of American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine)

. . . we speculate that the air pollution plume from both Orange County (Los Angeles area) and the Bay Area is likely to have an effect on downwind oak woodland (Quercus spp.) communities. In clean air conditions, these should normally host a high diversity of lichens including the charismatic Ramalina menziesii. This species has been one of the most showy and abundant members of the oak woodlands, especially in fog zones (McCune and Geiser 1997), but is pollution sensitive and has declined due to poor air quality and habitat loss. Floristically, this oak community is of great importance, and is likely to hold equal or higher lichen diversity than the coniferous forests of the mid-elevations on the west side in clean air situations.

Excerpts from
AIR POLLUTION RESEARCH
ECOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF AIR POLLUTION
by the California Air Resources Board

. . . .
In 1993, ozone-caused yield losses of 20-30% were estimated for cantaloupes, grapes, and cotton, which are known to be ozone-sensitive crops.
. . . .
Ambient and twice ambient levels of ozone caused adverse impacts in a range of biochemical, physiological, and performance parameters. Compared to trees grown in filtered air, the yield of plum trees exposed to mean daily ozone concentrations greater than 0.09 ppm (the State standard) in the first commercial bearing year was 65 percent. This reduction in yield was greater than the yield reduction of 35 percent in the first bearing year, indicating that ozone injury may indeed accumulate from season to season. The yield loss is related to the numbers of fruit set; fruit setting occurs before the high ozone season begins.

University of California resource specialists noticed that many species of oak trees in the Sierra foothills have changed color or shed their leaves entirely months early this year.
. . . .
the state Department of Water Resources says there is no drought. Rain and snowfall last winter was average or a little above.
. . . .
said Doug McCreary, a natural research specialist at the UC Cooperative Extension station. "It's autumn if you associate the season with leaves dropping."

McCreary, who studies native blue oak, black oak and valley oak trees from a base at the Sierra Foothill Research and Extension center near Marysville, began to notice the changes in the oaks in midsummer.

He and his colleagues found that these trees were turning brown and losing all their leaves, a process that McCreary said normally does not happen until around Thanksgiving.

The UC agriculture stations began getting a lot of calls from foothill residents, who thought the trees were dead, victims of the malady called sudden oak death syndrome, which affects oaks on the coast. But this was different.

For one thing, the trees weren't dead, only dormant. They had responded to natural signals -- lack of water, cooler weather -- by shutting down early, as if September had come in July.

On May 18, 2002 , we discovered that many trees in Mendocino, Lake and Sonoma Counties were declining in health very rapidly. Visual observations since that time have shown a unusual pattern of symptoms that impact many variety of trees. Healthy trees tend to resist diseases and pests unless they are weakened by stress which may be caused by weather modification programs, jet fuel emissions, lingering contrails, and air pollution. It is believed that our trees may be stressed due, in part, to these factors.

For the park's ecosystem, there may not be that much time left. Since 1970, 40 percent of the park's piñon and juniper habitat has been destroyed by wildfires fueled by smog-fertilized grass, a disaster from which the slow-growing desert evergreens have so far been unable to recover.
. . . .

OTTAWA (CP) - Acid rain is causing forest decline in much of Eastern Canada, with losses to the forest industry estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars annually in the Atlantic region alone, says an Environment Canada report.

WORST NATIONAL DROUGHT IN HISTORY
opening paragraph from article titled Wasted Energy Means More Heat and Smog
published by Environmental News Network
Friday, August 24, 2001 ~ By David Suzuki

It's interesting that within weeks of Canada agreeing to the terms of the Kyoto Protocol, temperatures soared and the country became gripped in what climatologists describe as the worst national drought in history. Of course, no one can say with certainty that the heat wave and drought were triggered by, or even exacerbated by global warming. But it is certain that this is the kind of weather that will become more common this century.
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. . . Like many glaciers worldwide during the twentieth century, San Quintín appears to be losing mass and possibly retreating. Such a change is evident in these two photographs taken by astronauts only seven years apart.
. . .
Images STS068-260-73 and ISS004-E-7267 were provided by the Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Laboratory at Johnson Space Center

The five million inhabitants of Santiago, Chile are exposed to high levels of air pollution during a significant portion of the year. Santiago ranks as one of the most polluted cities in the world and frequently confronts air-quality alerts and pollution emergencies. Air pollution in Santiago results in damaging respiratory diseases and a large number of premature deaths.

Excerpts from The Atlantic Monthly Digital Edition
OUR REAL CHINA PROBLEM
by Mark Hertsgaard
November 1997

The price of China's surging economy is a vast degradation of the environment, with planetary implications. Although the Chinese government knows the environment needs protection, writes the author, who spent six weeks inside China investigating the growing environmental crisis, it fears that doing the right thing could be political suicide.
. . . .
We were in the middle of a six-week trip through China to investigate the environmental crisis, and it was not a cheering assignment. In Beijing, Xi'an, and other cities of the north Zhenbing and I had walked in air so thick with coal dust and car fumes that even sunny days looked overcast and foggy. In the bone-dry province of Shanxi, a day's journey west of Beijing, we had ridden by train for hours without seeing anything that resembled woods -- there were only a few scattered, spindly trees, which looked ready to expire any minute. Everywhere, it seemed, the land had been scalped, the water poisoned, the air made toxic and dark.
. . . .
Sixty to 90 percent of the rainfall in Guangdong, the southern province that is the center of China's economic boom, is acid rain.
. . . .
. . . people's lungs and nervous systems are bombarded by an extraordinary volume and variety of deadly poisons. One of every four deaths in China is caused by lung disease, brought about by the air pollution and the increasingly fashionable habit of cigarette smoking.
. . . .
By 2020 its coal consumption will have doubled, if not tripled. All this will not only worsen the country's acid-rain and air-pollution problems; it will endanger the entire planet, by accelerating the global warming that scientists say is already under way.
. . . .
China's huge population and grand economic ambitions make it the most important environmental actor in the world today, with the single exception of the United States. Like the United States, China could all but single-handedly make climate change, ozone depletion, and a host of other hazards a reality for people all over the world
. . . .
Not for the last time in China, I felt as if I had stumbled into some fiendish laboratory experiment that was mushrooming beyond control.
. . . .
. . . . even well-educated people appear to be unaware that the human body cannot build up tolerance against industrial carcinogens the way it can against the infections that cause influenza. But the lack of awareness goes deeper. "A tendency to deny unpleasant realities has become part of the Chinese personality in recent decades," according to Orville Schell, the author of many books on China.
. . . .
President Bill Clinton has said that in his meeting with President Jiang Zemin, in October of 1995, he told Jiang that the biggest security threat China posed to the United States was related not to nuclear weapons or trade agreements but to the environment. Specifically, Clinton worried that China would copy America's bad example while pursuing economic development and end up causing terrible air pollution and global warming.
. . . .
I arrived in China eager to investigate the issue of climate change, but I almost forgot to raise the point during some interviews. When one is inhaling appallingly polluted air for weeks on end, one tends to focus the questions on that.
. . . .
China is a greenhouse giant. It has already surpassed the former Soviet Union to become the world's second largest producer of greenhouse gases, trailing only the United States

Excerpt from
LATEST IMPORT FROM CHINA: HAZE
by Ann Schrader
Denver Post Science Writer
April 18, 2001

. . . The haze, a dirty yellow when it left Asia on April 10 and now a whitish hue, sprawls from Canada to Arizona and now has reached to the Great Lakes.
. . . .
Atmospheric scientists contend that pollution has been flowing from Asia across the oceans. Three years ago, scientists said they had found evidence of Asian industrial pollution in Vancouver.
. . . .
As the Chinese economy grows and people buy motor vehicles and heat bigger homes better, the resulting pollution "will come to skewer or overwhelm our own pollution," Schnell said. In a decade or less, he predicted, certain pollution levels in California won't be controlled by California. Instead, the pollution will be imported from Asia.

A thick shroud of haze lingers over China, turning the sky an opaque grey over much of the eastern portion of the country. Beijing, China’s capital city, is situated roughly 150 km (93 miles) west of Bo Hai Bay, just north of what appears to the densest portion of the aerosol pollution in this true-color scene. The heavy aerosol concentrations can be seen blowing eastward across the Bo Hai Bay and Yellow Sea.

Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC

. . .
Today, however, much of the mountaintop forest land in the north remains bare, or pocked with dead or dying trees. The speed and extent of the devastation were shocking, because it appeared after a relatively long period of regeneration and amid ever-decreasing emissions of gases from industrial and municipal sources.

Experts reacted slowly, even incredulously. In the wake of reports of steady improvement in air quality, many had hoped that forests could be renewed within a reasonable amount of time. Today, after awakening from these optimistic dreams, experts in applied research as well as forestry are addressing the problem. The main culprit in the calamity is thought to be gas emissions (such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide) from industrial sources. The degradation of the soil after long-term exposure to acid rain was more severe than originally thought; it weakened the trees' ability to survive the past several winters of extreme cold.
. . .

. . . Recent research reveals what the Clean Air Act left out: that the major threats to forests are from nitrogen oxides (NOx)—which come mostly from cars, factories, and farm runoff—and from VOCs which react with sunlight and nitrogen oxide to form ozone, a component of smog.

. . . the major source of VOCs is from urban areas, especially cars; these sources contribute significantly to regional ozone pollution as they are blown far distances by prevailing winds.

. . . Ambient ozone enters the plant through pores in the leaf or needle called stomata. Most of the plant’s metabolic and respiratory activity occurs here. Ozone enters these stomata and initiates chains of reaction that destroy or damage plant proteins and enzymes, as well as the fatty chemicals that help form cell membranes.

. . . The ozone problem is severe and widespread throughout the eastern US. Ozone levels are high even in rural areas far away from automobiles, a major source of the primary pollutants necessary to form ozone (nitrogen and VOCs)

. . . Ozone and acid rain leave our forests more susceptible to drought, insects and disease through weakening their resistance to such natural cycles

Excerpts from a report by William Grant, PhD
Ch. 12. The Effects of Acidic Deposition on Pennsylvania's Forests, 1999, W.E. Sharpe and J.R. Drohan, editors, Proceedings of the 1998 Pennsylvania Acidic Deposition Conference, Volume 1, Environmental Resources Research Institute, University Park, PA, pp 151-160

Excess oak and hickory mortality rates appeared starting in about the mid-1970s and continue to increase today. The excess mortality is thought to be due to the accumulation of years of effects of acid deposition and ozone exposure.
. . . .
We have used USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis data, along with ozone and acid ion deposition doses, to show that red oaks experience decline and increased mortality due to ozone, with some contribution from acid ion deposition, while white oaks show increased mortality due to acid ion deposition. In the author’s model, acid ions change the soil chemistry, leading both to increased N fertilization, but also reduced base cations and increased aluminum. This can lead to reduced root growth, making trees more susceptible to drought conditions. It can also reduce trees' frost hardiness. In addition, it can increase the susceptibility of trees to attacks by fungal infections and insects, both of which utilize the more abundant nitrogen compounds. Ozone attacks leaves, reduces photoproduction, and changes the sugar/starch ratios, resulting in fewer carbohydrates being stored in the roots. As a result, trees are more susceptible to defoliation by insects. In addition, by making the stomata more rigid, ozone can reduce the trees' ability to regulate transpiration, again making them more susceptible to drought.

On March 26-27, 1999, fourteen scientists and experts with diverse specialties came together for a conference at Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment, entitled 'Acid Rain, Ozone and the Great Eastern Forests". They reviewed relevant literature, gave presentations of their own work, and engaged in scientific debate and discussion on the relationship between air pollution levels and the health of Appalachian forest ecosystems. Their conclusions, based on consensus, were presented to the public on the second day and are summarized here.

For supporting references or the complete findings, contact, Appalachian Voices ~ 703 W. King St., Suite 105 ~ Boone NC 28607 ~ phone (828) 262-1500

from the flyleaf of
AN APPALACHIAN TRAGEDY
AIR POLLUTION AND TREE DEATH IN THE EASTERN FORESTS OF NORTH AMERICA
edited by Ayers, Hager and Little
1998

All along the Appalachian chain, from Maine to Georgia, trees are dying. Spruce and fir are dead along the ridges. Great swaths of sugar maple are in mortal decline. The butternut is nearly extinct, and hemlocks are in a desperate struggle for life against an insect that flourishes as air pollution worsens. Dogwoods have been ravaged by a fungus that no one could even name until recently.

Weakened by decades of air pollution that have brought acid rain, deadly smog, and excess nitrogen, and by cell-destroying ultraviolet rays from a thinning ozone layer, the magnificent Appalachian forests are no longer able to fight off the bugs, blights, and bad weather that afflict forests everywhere. Instead, in these mountains, the trees are dying in unprecedented numbers - with death and decline affecting virtually all species in every part of the range. Yet relatively few people are aware of this ecological calamity in the making, due in large part to the efforts of the forest products industry, and their advocates in government, to downplay the crisis by manipulating statistics and confusing the issue.

An Appalachian Tragedy sets the record straight. Drawing on the talents of an authoritative and distinguished group of writers, including an award-winning historian, a top acid-rain scientist, and an eminent environmental journalist, this powerful book documents the damage that has already been done and warns of the fearful consequences for the future. Complex issues connected with tree mortality in the mountains, including threats to wildlife and to the cultural survival of the human communities of the Appalachians, are eloquently explored here.

Clearly, the need for action is apparent, as this book makes plain. Perhaps more than any other American region, these "round-shouldered old mountains" represent our historic devotion to the diversity of nature and the importance of community. If we allow tree death and forest decline to proceed unchecked in the Appalachians, we will have a tragedy of national proportions.

POLLUTION TAKES ITS TOLL ON EUROPE'S FORESTS
Brussels, Belgium ~ October 11, 2000 (ENS)

Only one third of Europe's trees are healthy according to the European Commission's annual 2000 report on the continent's forests. Forty-one percent of trees are classified as being in the "warning stage" and 20 percent are damaged, says the report, which concludes that further cuts in air pollution are needed before forests can be sustainably managed. (see http://ens.lycos.com/ens/oct2000/2000L-10-11-10.html for full article)

EUROPE'S FOREST - GENERAL TREND FOR THE WORSE
Excerpts from:: Forest Condition in Europe. 1999 Executive Report and Forest Condition in Europe. Results of the 1998 crown condition survey. 1999 Technical Report. Both available from the Federal Research Centre for Forestry and Forest Products, Leuschnerstr. 91, D-21027 Hamburg, Germany

During the annual forest survey in the summer of 1998, some 127,000 trees, spread over 5700 sample plots in a network covering most of Europe, were examined for defoliation. Of this number 24 per cent were assessed as damaged – meaning that they had lost more than 25 per cent of their leaves or needles in comparison with reference trees of the same species.

Of the four most common species in Europe – Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), Norwegian spruce (Picea abies), European oak (Quercus robur), and beech (Fagus sylvatica) – the one most damaged was European oak. The most extensively damaged forests were found in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and the southern parts of Poland and Belarus.
. . . .
Dr Martin Lorenz, who heads the all-Europe survey and works at the Institute for World Forestry in Hamburg, Germany, comments:

"I hope that our report still leaves no doubt that defoliation has a lot of causes, but it has indeed been possible over the years to collect ever more indications for the plausible assumption that air pollution is involved. . . ."

HIGH DAMAGE TO FORESTS INTERFERES WITH SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT
from PHARE Multi-Country Forestry Programme Report
to provide a common platform, compare results of transformation and search for common solutions concerning the forests in the Central-Eastern European countries

Windstorms, snow, rim, and insect pests are the most important damaging factors with increasing trend in the last period. They are frequently only the final cause of forest destruction, however, after a long-lasting synergy of several predisposing factors. These have been: changed structure of forests, long-term high air pollution, abnormal climatic situations. The incidence of windthrows, for instance, is apparently higher in even aged forests with changed tree species structure.

The air pollution still represents the most important stress in the central CEE countries: Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia. At the regional level, it is significant also in Romania and Bulgaria (referring, e.g., to the Maritsa East power plant station in Bulgaria).

Air pollution can wreck trees by culling the predators that normally keep leaf-munching insects in check, say ecologists in Finland. (click here to see the article on the NewScientist.com web site )

The agriculture ministry also acknowledges the problem has become acute. In a report this month, it said that Germany's woodlands have never been in such bad shape.

Berlin - The annual German forest survey published on Monday shows one-fifth of all trees in the country exhibit clear damage with beech trees in worst shape and pines being the most healthy.

About 21 percent of trees in sample surveys nationwide show major problems through loss of leaves or needles, said the study by the German government.

A total of 35 percent of trees show no damage and 44 percent have limited "early warning" damage, said the report.
. . . .

The most complete view ever assembled of the world's air pollution churning through the atmosphere and crossing continents and oceans has been produced by the MOPITT (Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere) instrument on NASA's Terra spacecraft. ~ The swirling colors in these images paint a remarkable new portrait of our planet. For the first time, scientists have a powerful new tool to track immense clouds of air pollution, shown in red, as they travel across the Earth. The observations represent a powerful new tool for identifying and quantifying pollution sources and for observing the transport of pollution on international and global scales.

During the 20th century air pollution, once a localized problem, became a global one. Nowhere is immune from toxic fallout or changes to the atmospheric chemistry.

excerpts from
TROPOSPHERIC PHOTOCHEMISTRY AND ITS RESPONSE TO UV CHANGES
Sasha Madronich, National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder, Colorado USA ~ 1993
In The role of the stratosphere in global change. Vol. 18. NATO-ASI Series, ed. M-L. Chanin, 437-61. Amsterdam: Springer-Verlag

ABSTRACT. The photochemistry of the troposphere is highly non-linear, and may be changing due to emissions of gases related to human activities. Increases in tropospheric ultraviolet (UV) radiation, due to stratospheric ozone depletion, may also perturb the troposphere.
. . . .
Numerous environmental concerns arise from tropospheric chemistry. On the urban scale (ca. 50 x 50 km[2]), intense tropospheric pollution can have direct effects on human health through noxious gases
. . . .
This pollution is not confined to urban areas, however, and can spread over regional scales (ca. 500 x 500 km[2]), resulting in acid rain through the formation of compounds like nitric acid (HNO3), sulfuric acid (H2SO4) and organic acids (R-CO-OH, where R is an organic radical group). Vegetation damage can result also from exposure to high levels of oxidizing gases such as O3 and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2).

The concern that air pollution may grow to the global scale is real.
. . . .
For NOX, current athropogenic emissions are thought to be comparable to or larger than global natural sources (IPCC, 1990; WMO, 1991). The first major global concern is that an increase in these gases, some of which are strong infrared absorbers, may change the radiative balance of the atmosphere, possibly resulting in climate change. The combined radiative effect of all of these gases is about double that of carbon dioxide (CO2) alone. Additional climate perturbations may come from aerosols, formed when some compounds such as sulfur dioxide (SO2) and dimethyl sulfide (CH3-S-CH3, or DMS) react in the troposphere to form H2SO4, which can lead to the formation of sulfate aerosols. These aerosols can absorb and scatter light, and, if appropriate in size, can also function as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), changing the size distribution of cloud droplets and affecting cloud reflectivities.

The second major global issue is the tropospheric "oxidizing" or "self-cleaning" capacity. Many compounds in the atmosphere are removed by reaction with the hydroxyl radical (OH) (Levy, 1971; Thompson, 1992 and refs. therein). OH is not available in infinite supply, and can be lost or at least reduced, if emissions associated with human activities exceed certain values. Should this happen, the lifetime of many compounds will increase, and ultimately their atmospheric concentrations will rise to higher levels. Tropospheric OH is made mostly from tropospheric O3, and both are sensitive to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and therefore to the overhead ozone abundance. Thus, one consequence of stratospheric ozone depletion is the alteration of tropospheric chemistry. Ultimately, the chemistries of the troposphere and the stratosphere must be viewed as fully coupled, because the troposphere is also the first chemical filter for surface-emitted compounds on their way to the stratosphere.

Tropospheric chemistry is non-linear, it involves a large number of compounds emitted at the surface, and is complicated by interactions between different phases including gas, liquid, aerosol, and various surfaces. Large uncertainties remain that go beyond simple computing resource limitations. Among all the complications, a few of the basic features do appear to be understood
. . . .

7. CONCLUSION

It is very difficult to predict what the chemical state of the troposphere will be a few decades from now. In addition to the non-linearities which distinguish the basic HOX - NOX - CO - CH4 system, numerous other tropospheric processes occur. The troposphere is rich and highly varied in its composition, with numerous different compounds of carbon, sulfur, nitrogen, and the halogens. Chemical transformations may occur not only in the gas phase, but also in cloud and rain water, and on the surface of aerosols. Perhaps most importantly, the troposphere is strongly coupled to the other "spheres." One stratospheric coupling is via UV radiation, as discussed in the previous section, yet another is the change in transport of gases across the tropopause (in both directions) if the chemical composition of either the troposphere or the stratosphere is altered. The troposphere is also strongly coupled to the earth's surface which can be source and sink for tropospheric gases. The biosphere plays a central role here, because many of the emissions are related to natural ecosystems and to human activities (here, too, UV can play a role if it can induce significant changes in biological activity on land and ocean). Uncertainties abound. At best, some of these processes are beginning to be understood in one direction, (for example, the effect of isoprene emissions on tropospheric chemistry) but very little is known on the reciprocity of the coupling. Future global atmospheric change, whether it is climate, or UV irradiation, or exposure to altered tropospheric air, will most likely change how the biosphere affects the troposphere, completing a feedback which today is beyond our predictive skills.

. . . "The cycles of the past, both cooler or hotter than today, are no guide to the future. Within the next 20 to 50 years, the world will experience weather events for which there is no precedent.

"We have changed the chemistry of the atmosphere with a range of compounds that have never occurred in the past," . . .

. . . .
The result would be rampant pollution that would cast a blanket of smog across much of the globe by 2050, reducing life expectancy and destroying crops and forests as pollutants are left to float free in the atmosphere.

Only big cuts in emissions from power plants and car exhausts, particularly sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrous oxides, would prevent such an environmental catastrophe . . .

A quote from
A PALE BLUE DOT
by CARL SAGAN
a 1994 address to the Commonwealth Club of California broadcast on National Public Radio

"We humans have now reached the point where our technology is of formidable, maybe even awesome proportions. At the same time, we recognize that our atmosphere is terribly fragile. The thickness of the envelope of air around us, compared to the size of the Earth, is about the same as the thickness of a coat of shellac on a school room globe, when compared to the size of the globe. There is not much air there, yet we are pouring all sorts of stuff into the atmosphere. In many cases, we do not have a clue as to what the long term consequences of that would be. In this sense, powerful technology interacting with a fragile ecosystem means that there is a level of responsibility and prudence that is required of us, and I hope that we will rise to the challenge."

“It is our best estimate that more people are being killed by air pollution from traffic than from traffic crashes.”
. . . .
“We hope that policy-makers will understand that energy decisions and technology decisions are fundamentally public health decisions.”

excerpt from
CATASTROPHIC SHIFTS IN ECOSYSTEMS
BY MARTEN SCHEFFER, STEVE CARPENTER, JONATHAN A. FOLEY, CARL FOLKE & BRIAN WALKER
Nature 413, 591-596 (11 October 2001)

"We should not be complacent about the response of ecosystems to ongoing global changes in environment," Schlesinger said. "What may seem gradual and unimportant could produce big, undesirable changes in ecosystems and the productivity of food and forestry systems upon which we all depend."

LONDON, England -- The Earth is becoming less blue and more blurred when viewed from space, because of increased levels of smog, astronauts say.

United States astronaut Frank Culbertson, who currently is in command of international space station Alpha, said Earth is becoming less clear as forests are burned and gas emissions rise.

He said the view from space has changed markedly since his first mission in 1990.
. . . .

The commander of the International Space Station (ISS) has expressed his concern to the BBC at the impact mankind is having on the Earth's environment.
. . . .
"We have to be very careful how we treat this good Earth we live on." ~ Commander Frank Culbertson
. . . .

. . .
Elevated levels of carbon dioxide were found to increase tree growth by 20% to 28%, with elevated ozone levels decreasing growth by around the same amount. With both gases at high levels, tree growth was normal. However, the researchers believe that as the trees mature, the growth-promoting effects of carbon dioxide will decrease and the negative effects of ozone will increase.
. . .

Washington D.C. - Urban and industrial air pollution can stifle rain and snowfall, a new study shows, because the pollution particles prevent cloud water from condensing into raindrops and snowflakes. These findings are reported in the 10 March issue of Science.

The new study, by Daniel Rosenfeld, of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, presents satellite images and measurements of "pollution tracks" downstream from major urban areas and air pollution sources such as power plants, lead smelters, and oil refineries. The tracks consist of polluted clouds that have shut off virtually all precipitation because they contain abnormally small water droplets.

. . .

GREENLAND (As you well know, there are very few trees or people in Greenland, but this points out just how serious the spread of global air pollution has become.)

AIR POLLUTION TRAVELS FAR FROM FROM ITS SOURCE
Summit Base Camp, Greenland

The following excerpt from an article titled Greenland's Thick Ice Hints of Dramatic Change by Curt Supple of the Washington Post appeared in a local newspaper on August 7, 2000. It provides an example of how pollution spreads globally and has unexpected effects.

The skies over Northern India are filled with a thick soup of aerosol particles all along the southern edge of the Himalayan Mountains, and streaming southward over Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. Notice that the air over the Tibetan Plateau to the north of the Himalayas is very clear, whereas the view of the land surface south of the mountains is obstructed by the brownish haze. Most of this air pollution comes from human activities. The aerosol over this region is notoriously rich in sulfates, nitrates, organic and black carbon, and fly ash. These particles not only represent a health hazard to those people living in the region, but scientists have also recently found that they can have a significant impact on the region's hydrological cycle and climate (click to read the relevant NASA press release).

This true-color image was acquired on January 14, 2002, by the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), flying aboard NASA’s Terra satellite.

. . .
Rising levels of air pollution has brought down visibility levels for pilots who now need to take an extra 15 minutes to land at the international airport and this means burning an extra one to two tonnes of precious fuel. And with the winter setting in fog has added to the pilot's problems.

The aviation advisor and special secretary to the state government said that lingering dust, smoke particles in the atmosphere and fog was forcing pilots who were accustomed to landing or taking off with the help of manual direct landing systems to depend on instrument landing systems, normally used during adverse climate conditions.

He said the atmosphere which would earlier clear up around 8am now get cleared only after 11-11.30 am.

An A-320 aircraft for example has to hover over the airport while transferring control from manual or direct landing to the instrument landing system and the official blamed industries in Sanathnagar, Balanagar and the surrounding areas for polluting the atmosphere.
. . .

INDIAN OCEAN (There are not many trees or people here either, but this provides evidence that serious air pollution is reaching remote areas of the southern hemisphere as well as remote areas in the northern hemisphere.)

EXTENSIVE AIR POLLUTION COVERS 10 MILLION SQUARE MILES OF THE TROPICAL INDIAN OCEAN, RESEARCHERS SAY.
excerpts from an ENN Special Report dated Thursday, June 10, 1999

An international group of scientists participating in the Indian Ocean Experiment has documented extensive air pollution covering the Indian Ocean. The findings raise serious questions about the impact that widespread pollution is having on climate processes and on marine life.
. . . .
. . . the team of scientists was shocked by the extent of the pollution they encountered during the six-week field experiment that began in early February and continued through the end of March. The dense pollution layer was caused by sources thousand or more kilometers away.
. . . .
The haze is caused by high concentrations of small particles known as aerosols that are usually less than a few micrometers in diameter. Comprised primarily of soot, sulfates, nitrates, organic particles, fly ash and mineral dust, the particles often reduced visibility over the open ocean to less than 10 kilometers, a range typically found near polluted regions of the United States and Europe. The haze layer also contains relatively high concentrations of gases, including carbon monoxide, various organic compounds and sulfur dioxide, providing conclusive evidence that the haze layer is caused by pollution.
. . . .
Emissions of pollutants are expected to increase over the Indian Ocean and in other parts of the globe as additional economies grow.
. . . .
. . . the entire hydrological cycle is being perturbed.
. . . .
Coordinating the Indian Ocean Experiment are the Center for Clouds, Chemistry and Climate at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and a National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center at the University of California, San Diego. The project has received funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA.
. . . .
Source: Environmental News Network web page at http://www.enn.com/enn-news-archive/1999/06/061099/indoex_3665.asp

TEHRAN, Iran — President Mohammad Khatami opened a subway line Tuesday that is hoped will reduce pollution in a city where thick smog has occasionally forced schools to close.
. . . .
Pollution in Tehran has reached such proportions that last year the government launched a 10-year plan to reduce smog levels. The plan includes phasing out old vehicles that lack efficient exhaust filters.
. . . .
On some days in Tehran, the sun is barely visible in the mornings. Residents complain of itchy eyes and sore throats. In late 1999, the smog became so bad that the government shut down kindergartens and elementary schools, closed the city center to motorists for several days, and urged elderly people to stay indoors.
. . . .

I've read your recent many informative reports on tree decline with much interest.

Leaf curling has been also observed in Japan, significantly since last year, though is not sure whether it is the same phenomenon you observed or not.

The leaf curling in Japan increases in rain and is obvious in thin-leaved deciduous species such as Enkianthus, Acer, and Prunus. Increases of curling during rain were confirmed by my observation using time-lapse video. The leaf curling does not significantly recover after rain and the curling increases as months pass. The curling is more significant in leaves in outer part of the crown that receive more rain. From these observations, I suppose the leaf curling in Japan is related to acid rain, though experimental proof has not been obtained yet.

Hisao Fujii (fujiihi@ffpri.affrc.go.jp)
Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute
P.O.Box16, Tsukuba Norin Kenkyu Danchi-nai,
Ibaraki, 305, Japan

Thank you very much for your very interesting and implicative observations sent by recent two E-mails.

As to leaf curling, in Japan the curling symptom also observed in many species. I wrote in the previous mail "obvious in thin-leaved deciduous species such as Enkianthus, Acer, and Prunus", but after that Dr. Y. Morimoto in Japan informed that evergreen species Viburnum odoratissimum var. awabuki with very thick leaves are also showing the curling symptoms by E-mail to me. I confirmed that and it was also observed in evergreen species Lithocarpus. Less extent of curling may be observed in many species. In Liriodendron tulipifera in Japan it is not significant now.

In major trends, the curling symptoms in Japan are progressing in rain and cumulative, but there is some possibility that more fine observations can find diurnal changes. Relevant to the implication of your observation, Dr. M. Ikawa in Japan reported that pH of dew in urban regions at night is more acid than rain, though dew on leaves is thought to be buffered by leaf substances. And many researchers in Japan reported pH of fog is often much more acid (for example fog of pH 2.5 was reported at a subalpine region). I expect your future observation and research.

As to leaf loss you reported, many conifers in Japan show leaf loss symptoms mainly in old leaves, and some broadleaved species such as Zelkova and Aesculus fell their leave in earlier season and some broadleaved species decrease their leaves in some branches or in inner crowns. In some decline-symptom photo reported from Europe or west north America, pale green leaves are often observed, but in Japan leaf color is relatively deep, that may be relevant to soil cation or other nutrient contents. I feel leaf loss of your observations also is relevant to soil acidification (including cation or nutrient loss, toxicity of aluminum and so on) compounded by rain leaching and leaf damage due to acid deposits, though ozone and other air pollutants also have possibilities.
. . . . .
I appreciate your reports very much.

Best regards.
Hisao Fujii

FUKUOKA (Kyodo) The damage to agricultural crops caused by ozone -- a poisonous compound commonly found in smog -- amounts to an estimated 20 billion yen every year (approx. US$166,457,000) in the Kanto region alone, Shizuoka University researchers said Saturday.
. . . .
Ozone, a blue gaseous oxygen compound most often created when automobile exhaust is exposed to sunlight, has been blamed for the death of forests in areas with high concentrations of the gas.
. . . .

excerpt from
BIZARRE WEATHER RAVAGES AFRICANS' CROPS
Some See Link to Worldwide Warming Trend
By Michael Grunwald
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 7, 2003

Many scientists say that Ntaote, along with nearly 40 million other Africans at risk of starvation, may be among the first human victims of global climate change. The scientists are wary of attributing any specific weather event to general warming trends, and they are careful to note that the causes of the famine stalking the continent include not only erratic weather but war, intractable poverty, corrupt governance and the AIDS epidemic. And while the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has concluded that human beings are contributing to global warming, the scientists do not try to blame the industrialized world's greenhouse gas emissions for the developing world's complex problems.

Still, climate experts say the "extreme weather events" that have plagued countries like Lesotho in recent years are remarkably consistent with predictions for a warmer world. The IPCC has forecast that Africa will be particularly vulnerable to the water shortages, disease outbreaks and food crises that are expected to be intensified by global warming, and the experts warn that a 30-year drought in the Sahel region that has scorched fields in Chad, Mali, Gambia and Mauritania could be a harbinger of other disasters. The international Red Cross has documented steady increases in weather-related disasters in Africa and around the world, and most experts say the risks will increase with time.

"In short," said Jay Lawrimore, chief of the climate monitoring branch for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, "the prospect of climate change for Africa is not good."

Cynthia Rosenzweig, a NASA research scientist who studies the impact of climate change on food security, said there was already strong evidence of a warming trend in Africa, far beyond the well-publicized melting of Mount Kilimanjaro's glaciers in Tanzania. The head of the World Food Program in Lesotho, Techeste Zergaber, said bluntly that the villagers already can feel the effects of global warming -- in their stomachs.

"It's an amazing thing for a scientist: The things we've been predicting for years are starting to happen now," Rosenzweig said. "It's already having real effects on vulnerable people. And the predictions get even worse."

Concerning damage along the coast of Maine, I saw a great deal of damage near Kittery, Maine a few weeks ago along with significant air pollution. It is reported that Acadia National Park on the coast of Maine receives very high doses of ozone, some of the highest in the country. I believe this is caused by NOx pollution coming up the coast from metropolitan areas to the south and the time in transit allows high concentrations of ozone to form.

Our house looks to the east and we can often see on the far horizon, the color of the atmosphere out toward the coast of New Hampshire and southern Maine. Regularly the atmosphere on the horizon will be a brownish yellow, a telltale sign of NOx pollution. Twenty years ago I only saw this type of atmospheric pollution near cities.

(Dick Jaegels, University of Maine Forest Biologist) There have been reports of red spruce dying at high elevations in the Adirondacs and in the Green Mountains of Vermont. The only thing that was correlating with them was exposure to cloud fog that was very acid. We began a project on the coast of Maine so we could look at trees that were also bathed in fog but which would be relatively pristine fog.

(Kate Arno, Segment Host) In the midst of all the study for causes, the problem of red spruce showed up along the Maine coast as well, and that led scientists to begin analyzing coastal fog. Jaegels has found the coastal fog is probably more damaging than the acids carried by clouds at higher elevations.

(Dick Jaegels, University of Maine Forest Biologist) I would have been surprised also before research began to show that because you think of clouds as being pure distilled water that has evaporated and condensed, but it's really the fact that this water is recondensing around some kind of nuclei, and in an area where there is no pollution that might just be inert dust particles but in an area where there is pollution then those pollutants become part of that fog.

(Kate Arno, Segment Host) Scientists have found pollutants affect tree species differently. Pine is more sensitive to ozone, and red spruce is more sensitive to acid fog.

(Dick Jaegels, University of Maine Forest Biologist) Some of the things we know that polluted fog does is that when it deposits on the leaf's surface it can affect the waxes that are on that surface and the waxes on a leaf surface are very important in protecting leaves from desiccation, from infection by fungi, from damage by ultraviolet light; for a number of reasons these surface waxes are very important on leaves.

(Kate Arno, Segment Host) This is leading some scientists to conclude trees can be weakened by pollution and then other stresses can come in and damage them further, like cold weather, global warming or insects. These are called multiple stresses.

To: Gerry Hawkes <ghawkes@eco-systems.org>
Date: Tuesday, April 03, 2001 7:35 AM

The worsening condition of many white pine in Southern Maine has been noted by others for over two years now. Yellow Tops, 90% mortality rates in certain stands, etc. etc. . . . . . . . . . The problem with the trees seems to appear in Southern Maine and work its way further south.

UNPRECEDENTED FOREST DAMAGE RELATED TO CLIMATE CHANGE AND TOXIC AIR POLLUTION?

From: Donald J Mansius <cndmans@state.me.us>
To: Multiple recipients of list FOREST <FOREST@LISTSERV.FUNET.FI>
Date: Friday, February 06, 1998 12:41 PM
Subject: Maine Forest Service Maps Out Ice Storm Impact

AUGUSTA, Maine -- The Department of Conservation's Maine Forest Service preliminary assessments confirm that the January Ice Storms were among the most noted natural events to affect Maine's forest in recorded history. First, more than one half of Maine's forests - about 11.3 million acres - were affected by the storm. Second, of this total, approximately 58% (6.5 million acres) contains areas classified as moderate to severe damage. Third, the value of standing timber damaged and subject to loss without salvage operations is estimated to exceed $300 million. And finally, more than 400 Maine municipalities recorded impact from the storms.
(this is only the first paragraph of the original message)

The great ice storm of January 1998 was the worst disaster Maine has seen in a long time. However, while we humans suffered greatly from the storm, with more than 20 lives lost, billions of dollars of damage done throughout the region, and loss of electrical power for as long as two weeks for some people, by far the greatest and most enduring effect of the storm is the extensive damage done to our trees and forests.
. . . .
Not coincidentally, the species of trees most badly damaged by the weight of the ice - Maples, Ash, Birches and Aspens - are among the species of trees that were exhibiting the worst air pollution damage long before the storm struck
. . . .
Aside from the mountaintops, the worst pollution-caused tree damage in Maine can be seen along the coast, and particularly on exposed headlands and offshore islands.
. . . .
Do you remember back when Sugar Maples would first began to turn orange in September? As a symptom of their poor health, now the first orange leaves regularly begin to appear on these trees in mid-late August.
. . . .
The latest U.S. Forest Service inventory of Maine forests, published in the summer of 1996, showed that industrial forests were growing not a half cord per acre per year, as they have traditionally, but only a sixth of a cord.
. . . .
One criticism often leveled by opponents of stricter air pollution standards is that acid rain or other pollutants don't kill trees, that they are actually killed by cold winters or by insects or fungus or some such agent. In a sense these critics are correct - it is true that cold or insects or fungus or some other pathogen is often the ultimate cause of tree death rather than pollutants. But one might fairly ask why in the latter part of this century are so many pathogens suddenly having such a tremendous effect on so many species of trees. If just one or two species of trees were suffering a decline in eastern North America, maybe it would be acceptable to simply blame the weather or some pathogen and dismiss the problem as unfortunate but unavoidable. But that is hardly the case. Instead, what we are witnessing across most of eastern North America is a pandemic of tree death.

We need to take the wider view and look on these pathogens as representing only the proximate causes of death, and see forest decline and tree death across eastern North America for the pandemic that it is. Our industrial society with its attendant air pollution is slowly killing our forests, as it has the forests of eastern Europe, weakening and stressing trees, and making them more susceptible to cold winters and attack by pathogens.

A good analogy can be made between acid rain and AIDS. You don't die from the HIV virus, you die of the diseases you contract because of your depressed immune system. The same holds true of atmospheric pollutants and trees. It is often not the pollutants that kill the trees but the insects, viruses, fungi, or bacteria that attack once the trees' overly-stressed immune systems are weakened.
. . . .

From: "Gerry Hawkes" <ghawkes@eco-systems.org>
Sent: Saturday, June 30, 2001 12:56 PM

I just returned from the coast of Maine this morning. While there I saw heavy mortality of red spruce, balsam fir and white pine occurring at sea level at an alarming rate. It appeared that in many areas mortality over the last two years has been about 30%. Meanwhile brown NOx haze was thick both over land and the sea.

On May 1, 1998, Acadia National Park was the first place in the country to record an ozone violation, and recorded higher concentrations of ozone smog than Boston and Philadelphia. (see the report Air Pollution In Our Parks 1999)

BEAM (Breathing Easier Through Air Monitoring) : Realtime air pollution data from South Portland
Acadia National Park ~ Realtime air pollution and visibility monitoring from www.hazenet.com

Near-constant exposure to nitrogen-rich chemicals from acid rain and airborne ozone is reducing "the vigor and growth rate of evergreen trees" in Northeast forests, a new study has found. Researchers found that extra nitrates contributed through pollution initially act as a fertilizer, but eventually they saturate the ground, causing calcium and other nutrients to leach out of soil and hamper long-term tree growth. The study also found that ozone directly affected leaves by damaging cell membranes. The 11-year study by forest ecology specialists from the Woods Hole Marine Biology Laboratory in Massachusetts, US Forest Service, the U. of New Hampshire, U. of Minnesota and U. of Maine and was conducted in forests in Petersham, MA; Mount Ascutney, VT, and the Bear Brooks Watershed in Maine (Robert Cooke, Long Island Newsday, 1/19).

The Mediterranean, long known for its beautiful beaches and temperate climate, is being inundated with man-made air pollution from other regions of the world.
. . . .

. . . .
The study involves using a lichen species called Hypogymnia physodes which tolerates moderate levels of air pollution.
. . . .
In the past, this lichen could be found all around Lake Michigan but it has perished in many places as the result of high levels of air pollution.
. . . .

. . . .
In many areas in Michigan and states in the Midwest and Northeast, ashes are displaying troubling signs of decline.
. . . .
"This is worse than Dutch elm disease. It's spreading faster. This is killing large stands almost in one season," said Carl Dollhopf, a horticultural consultant from Westland who has surveyed western Wayne County for diseased ashes.
. . . .
Ashes are widely planted as tough street trees that can tolerate a range of conditions, including salt and drought.
. . . .

. . . .
The question was posed to several experts: are Michigan's forests in trouble?

Roger Mech, Forest Health Specialist, Forest Management Division, Roscommon say that, "Generally most forest types are in good shape in the Lake States."

Russell Kid, District Extension Forestry Agent for Michigan State University Extension in Roscommon thinks we are not seeing the effects of acid rain just yet. "In 1988 a severe drought really affected the trees; other years warm springs and late frosts. I am more concerned about the introduction of exotic pests than acid rain."

But Doug Cornett, Executive Director of Northwoods Recovery agrees with Little that the forests are in trouble. "All around Marquette the trees are dying. It's especially bad where I live, on a hill between two coal-fired power plants. I was in Traverse City recently and could see dead maples all along the road. Those trees are only 70 to 100 years old, young trees really. There's a whole bunch of things going on, but what comes out of the sky is the most frightening. Acid rain probably plays the major role. Normal ph is 5.5 to 6, but twenty years ago levels started coming in between 5 and 4."

Murray Daley, an environmental activist in Lake Orion, says, "Since reading the Dying Of The Trees I have paid particular attention to the trees everywhere I go in Michigan and around the country. It is impossible not to. It is similar to the scenario where a person buys a new car, then begins to see that car everywhere. All one has to do is look. The upper limbs and branches go first I have noticed. The oaks, the maples, the pines. It is a slow death. They say that tree death is natural--and it is. But trees don't die naturally at ages of 30, 40, 60 or 80 years old."
. . . .
Cornett feels that little attention is being paid in Michigan to the impact of acid rain. "Although the U.S. Forest Service is supposed to monitor acid rain in their plan for the Ottawa National Forest under the National Forest Preservation and Trust Act, over the last fifteen years they have never done so."
. . . .
Whatever the cause or causes, the lists of tree species under attack in Michigan is formidable.
. . . .

TROUBLE WITH ASH TREES IN MICHIGAN
excerpts from a September 4, 2001 article in
The Detroit Free Press
by Janet Macunovich
(see article for photos)

Thousands of ash trees that line the streets and shade the yards and parking lots of Metro Detroit's western suburbs are dead or dying. Tens of thousands more in nearby areas are beginning to show troubling symptoms of disease.
. . . .
. . . . green, white or black ash -- all of which are seeing their lives threatened this summer.
. . . .
. . . . a Canton Township homeowner was amazed at how fast his trees went downhill, especially a 30-foot green ash that stands by the curb in front of his home.
. . . .

A SAD AUTUMN DAY
September 26, 2001
by Jeff Gibbs ~ 9188 E. Hoxie Rd. ~ Cedar, MI 49621
231-941-0825 ~ jeffgibbstc@aol.com

This week I had the privilege of driving from Traverse City across the straights of Mackinaw, and on to Marquette on Lake Superior. I thought I was in for a treat as autumn colors ought to be at their peak according to news reports which claimed trees in Michigan's Upper Peninsula had begun to change colors a few weeks ago. Instead, I was in for a rude awakening.

Very little autumn color was apparent as I traveled north and west, even in the Huron Mountains where frost always arrives in late August. (Today is September 26th.) Apparently it was stressed trees that had already turned, and these had dropped their leaves. I noticed that many many aspen had been defoliated and were looking ragged. Strangely, most trees had not begun to turn at all.

After I a couple rainy days I made the return trip along the north coast of Lake Michigan, a one hundred and fifty mile journey. I was sickened. The aspen and cottonwood were "turning" ahead of the maples. They were a sickly brown, or dark gray, or a deathly dull green. Many aspen had little foliage and some were bare. Cedar swamps along the way were browning, or the foliage was lacey and thin, or missing. Some tracts were completely dead and gray: lifeless.

I counted in three hours only two small stretches of maples with ANY fall color: merely a few branches on a few trees. No other trees showed any fall color. I wold estimate that perhaps a third to half of the hardwoods were turning these strange dull "death-tones." The rest remained dull green.

The combined effect of dead and diseased trees, and the dark colors, was disturbing. If anyone has an explanation for the brown leaves of autumn I would love to hear it. On my part, I wonder if in addition to the regular load of acid precipitation accumulated all year, the recent rain had wafted from some southerly industrial region a potent brew of acid, or perhaps "worse."

Please note that I have experienced autumn in Michigan with joy and awe for 46 years. I have never seen such a sight even as a lad in the industrial regions of Flint and Detroit.

I have enjoyed that stretch of north-woods along Lake Michigan nearly every fall for thirty years. Something is very, very, wrong.

-----Original Message-----
From: Doug Cornett <drcornet@up.net>
To: Jeff Gibbs <jeffgibbstc@aol.com>
Date: Monday, October 01, 2001 6:10 AM
Subject: hemlock death

Jeff, Just visited Little Presque Isle yesterday and the Hemlocks near the Lake Superior shoreline appear to be dying quite rapidly. Just below Sugarloaf Mtn. is an entire grove, perhaps 10 acres or more, dead - every tree! My first thought was fog - perhaps the fog that is frequently here is so acidic it killed everything?? In addition, many of the deciduous trees were dead and fallen over with the roots completely rotted away at the base of the trunk. I played in a graveyard as a kid growing up in Ohio - it never scared me and we sometimes camped at night there. This Hemlock graveyard, with many of the dead still standing, is truly frightening! Doug

-----Original Message-----
From: Doug Cornett <drcornet@up.net
Date: Tuesday, March 26, 2002 3:59 PM
Subject: Re: hemlock health

. . . I ran across this language in Seney National Wildlife Refuge's Draft Fire Management Plan:

"...The Refuge has the responsibility to protect air quality related values in the area from adverse impacts from human-caused air pollution. Despite this protection [Class I designation under Federal Clean Air Act] the Service has documented impacts to Refuge resources from air pollution, primarily from sources outside the refuge. For example, Refuge surveys conducted from 1999-2001 found injury to vegetation from ozone pollution formed from industry, power plant and auto emissions. Power plants and other sources also release mercury, which bioaccumulates in fish and wildlife at the Refuge. In addition, visibility at the refuge is often impaired by fine particulate pollution. A review of air quality issues ... can be found in the Air Quality Briefing, Seney NWR (2001)."

"... In 1999, the refuge joined the IMPROVE (Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments) network and is now collecting information to determine the causes of visibility impairment at Seney. In addition, an automatic camera continuously records visibility conditions at the Refuge, which are updated every 15 minutes at www.mwhazecam.net. Real-time particle measurements from the Refuge are also available at the website."

----Original Message-----
From: Doug Cornett <drcornet@up.net>
To: Gerry Hawkes <ghawkes@sover.net>
Date: Tuesday, October 02, 2001 10:09 AM

Over the past decade, I've seen the collapse of Upper Peninsula forest ecosystems (and beyond) unfold before me. These are not isolated incidences concerning one or two species over a couple year time span. Numerous species are affected and the problems appear to me as a continuous event over my 10+ years of observation. Red, Silver, and Sugar Maple, Jack, Red and White Pine, Eastern Hemlock, White Spruce, Balsam Fir and Aspens are all dying. Research from my colleagues at Northern Michigan University on salamander species show decline because of acidified environments. Dozens of herbaceous plant species are sick and declining in vigor. Something is definitely wrong. I don't know Mr. Karnosky or Mr. Lovett. But I do know that the scientific process is failing us when I see such absurd responses to Jeff's concerns. Insects and diseases alone are not solely responsible for the collapse of forests in our area. There has to be underlying factors precipitating this event. Acid rain should be a prime suspect since pH maps show consistent readings of 4.5 to 5.0 over the past 20 years or so. Sounding the alarm that forests are sick is the responsible thing to do. I'm glad that Jeff Gibbs has stepped up to the plate and is publishing his writings. By the time the scientific process comes along to tell us what we intuitively know, we'll be baking in a treeless desert!

SPRUCE, CEDAR, OAKS TAKING A HEAVY HIT UP NORTH
From: JeffGibbsTC@aol.com
Date: Monday, April 15, 2002 10:01 AM

Yesterday (April 14) I had the privilege of driving from Marquette, Michigan on the shore of Lake Superior to the Straights of Mackinaw where the two peninsulas of Michigan nearly touch. I took a more northerly route than the one I described last autumn running somewhat south of Lake Superior until cutting south to the Straights. (M-28 to M-123 to I-75 for those keeping score.) I drive this route 2-4 times per year. Here are some problems I observed.

The spruce and fir in the Seney National Wildlife Area visible from the highway for a stretch of about thirty miles are now experiencing widespread dieback. In fact from Marquette to Mackinaw, a distance of over 160 miles, nearly every wetland with spruce and fir and about 1/4 the northern white cedar "swamps" are either dead or brown and/or defoliated. But of course this is also happening "downstate."

The sort of spider branches mentioned in earlier letters are now to be found as far north as Negaunee, hundreds of miles from any urban area, all along the roadway. In many places individual hardwood trees are falling over, or the tops appear ragged with large dead branches, especially oaks on dry ridges. Willow and poplar are also dying in the same ways around Marquette that they are around Traverse City. Oaks are taking a heavy hit from Detroit to the northern UP, a distance of about 500 miles encompassing many thousands if not millions of acres. I see few healthy oak woods anywhere I travel in our state.

Now that what sufficed for winter has passed along the highways and biways where tree death has occurred crews are busy cutting up and carting away dead trees making the roads safer but obscuring the true extent of tree death.

Excerpts from MERCURY AND OTHER POLLUTANTS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE FISH
MERCURY IN FISH: The Problem You Can't See, Taste or Smell
NEW HAMPSHIRE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
OFFICE OF COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC HEALTH
BUREAU OF HEALTH RISK ASSESSMENT

. . . .
It is hard to believe that fish that looks, smells and tastes fine may not be safe to eat. But the truth is that fish caught in New Hampshire lakes, ponds and rivers have mercury in them. Other states have this problem too. Mercury in the air settles into the waters. It then builds up in the fish.
. . . .
Small amounts of mercury can damage a brain starting to form or grow. That is why babies in the womb, nursing babies, and young children are at most risk. Too much mercury may affect behavior and how well they learn, think and problem solve later in life.

Click here for more information on the largest source of mercury air pollution, coal burning power plants.


Click on thumbnails above for larger images.

Photo 1 - Red Spruce forests on the western-facing slopes of the Park's High Peaks region are stunted and dying at a rapid pace. This slide shows the large kill-zone (colored red) in the spruce/fir forest of the High Peaks region. The decline of red spruce forests has been rapid and unmistakable over the past three decades. Acidity leaches aluminum out of the rock and soil and depletes the soil of vital minerals. Aluminum destroys the root hairs of trees, preventing them from absorbing the water and nutrients needed for survival. Normally, rainwater, with a natural pH of 5.6, is buffered by Alkaline minerals such as calcium and magnesium in the soil. However, acid rain washes those minerals out of the soil faster than weathering can replace them by breaking down rock. The Adirondacks are particularly vulnerable due to its anorthosite bedrock - a tough granite with few Alkaline minerals. (go to previous photo to see what the red spruce on this mountain top looked like 20 years earlier)

Photo 2 - A tree is weakened over time by acid rain, leaving it more susceptible to factors that would otherwise be harmless. Spruce and fir, in this picture, are so stressed by the acid pollution that they have succumbed to severe cold, drought, insect infestations or diseases. According to the U.S. Forest Service, death rates for many tree species have doubled or tripled in the last decade.

Photo 3 - Winter injury on red spruce is caused by combination of cold weather and acid rain. And, insect infestation on hemlock branches is due to wooly adelgids feeding off the excess nitrogen. Mature trees can die from infestation within four years.

Photo 4 - The effects of acid rain can be studied and documented scientifically, but the Adirondack Park's devastation is best captured by its longstanding inhabitants who have felt the impact of its declining state over a lifetime. C.V. Bowes came to Big Moose Lake in 1951 when fishing was plentiful and the waterfowl was densely populated. He describes trophy-sized trout and abundances of crayfish, freshwater shrimp, frogs, hooded mergansers and otters that filled the Lake. By 1980, however, the Lake that once teemed with life, was lucky to have sparse populations of any species in its waters. In addition, tests show that the water contains five times as much lead and copper as is deemed safe for human consumption.

By Michael Coopper ~ January 12, 2005

ALBANY, Jan. 11 - The operators of six coal-burning power plants in upstate New York have agreed to significantly reduce emissions that cause smog and acid rain in what state officials called the state's largest settlement ever for reducing air pollution.

Factories, electric utilities, hazardous waste management facilities and coal mines in the United States and Canada generated almost 3.4 million metric tonnes of toxic chemical waste in 1999, shows an annual report from the Commission for Environmental Cooperation of North America. The wastes included 269,000 tonnes of chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive problems.

The report, "Taking Stock" is based on reports submitted to the national pollutant release and transfer registers of Canada and the U.S. by industry, and includes data on 210 chemical substances. This year, the study also presents the first five year analysis of pollution releases and management.

The five year trend shows a slight overall change in the total of toxic chemicals generated, but big changes in how those pollutants are handled. The North American manufacturing sector's 25 percent (153,000 tonnes) reduction in releases to air was offset by a 25 percent (33,000 tonnes) increase in on site releases to land and a 35 percent (58,000 tonnes) increase in off site releases, mostly to landfills.

Releases to lakes, rivers and streams also increased during this period by 26 percent (24,000 tonnes).

"'Out of the air, into the water and land' emerges as a major trend from our five year analysis," said Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) executive director Janine Ferretti. "North America's progress in reducing toxic releases to air must continue but it also must be matched by reductions in water and land releases."

Red Spruce are dying in the Southern Appalachians After a one hour flight with Southwings pilot Susan Lapis to several high elevation southern Appalachian peaks, I can say without doubt that we are in the midst of a serious episode of red spruce death. I first spotted the problem from the ground on Grandfather Mountain, North Carolina. I visited a site where dozens of high elevation conifers had died and found them to be pure stands of red spruce. My flight today took me to Grandfather Mountain, NC, Roan Mountain, TN and NC, Mt Rogers/Whitetop, VA, and Long Hope Creek valley in Watauga County, NC. At every one of these locations, there were patches of a few to several dozen conifers (either spruce or fir) that were dead or dying. Some appeared to have been dead for several months to perhaps a year (all were easy to differentiate from the mortality of a decade or more ago), while others were still yellow or a reddish brown, indicating a transition to death. Many other trees appeared to be chlorotic, i.e. losing their healthy green color.

In some of these locations like Whitetop and Long Hope Creek, the stands are known to be pure red spruce. On Grandfather, the stands I looked at on the ground were all red spruce. At Grandfather Mountain, I had already spotted a large patch of dead spruce about the elevation of the swinging bridge (5300'), and just to its northwest.

The flight around the entirety of the mountain today revealed patches of death with all the trees within the patch being dead. I also saw individual recently dead conifers in places throughout. On Roan Mountain, some 20 miles to the northwest of Grandfather, I saw much the same picture. I remember one stand that had brown, reddish brown and yellow conifers, presumably red spruce. Another good sized patch of a dozen or more dead trees was right at the parking lot at Carvers Gap. Whitetop Mountain is pure red spruce. I saw individual and patches of dead and dying spruce there. Nearby Mt. Rogers and nearby Grayson highlands also had the same picture.

You could not look at the spruce/fir forest without seeing dying and recently dead trees. All the above forests had red spruce at elevations above about 5000'. But Long Hope Creek is a valley location with a stand of pure red spruce at an elevation of about 4300'. Large patches and individual red spruce had just died or were dying there as well. I have personally been watching these areas over the last five years, especially concerned with the large amount of mortality in the northern hardwoods such as yellow birch and sugar maple and beech. I would occasionally see a dying or recently dead spruce or fir. But what I have seen over the last few months is way beyond my experience over this time. Some of this could have occurred as early as last summer (2000), but much of it is happening before my eyes.

We now are aware that the red spruce are being attacked by the southern pine beetle. It started by killing large numbers of pines and now is in the spruce. Only rarely has the beetle jumped ecological zones into an
occasional red spruce. Never has it been on this scale.

Southern pine beetle usually only attacks pines and usually only attacks trees already under considerable stress. So with this "leap" of host, the most important point is not that the SPB is killing the spruce, but why. What is the stressor?

Dr. Bob Bruck has run the precipitation numbers for Grandfather Mountain to see if there has been a significant drought. He found that from 1995-2000, the records at GFM indicate a normal precipitation regime. There has been no drought over that time. He also ran the temperature numbers. For the last fifty years, he found an increase of 7 degrees F, certainly a significant increase, especially for a species that is near its southern limit.

But probably the greatest change has been the increase in two air pollutants, nitrogen and ozone. Ozone is known to have ill-effects on red spruce. Experiments on Mt. Mitchell, planting red spruce seedlings/saplings in local soil, but varying air exposure from ambient Mt. Mitchell air, and charcoal filtered air (taking out the ozone and other pollutants), Dr. Bruck found that the spruce in the charcoal filtered air did much better, despite their being in the acidified soil. Similar experiments in Durham, NC, using pine (a cousin to the red spruce) found similarly striking results.

Nitrogen has clearly increased substantially in mountain soils. Nitrogen removes high carbon secondary metabolites in the foliage which causes a reduction in the tree's defenses against disease and insects. Nitrogen in the foliage is also more attractive to insects as it promotes the formation of amino acids, a valuable nutrient for the insects. So, the most likely stressors for the dying spruce in the southern Appalachian Highlands may be nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide from cars, trucks and power plants that burn fossil fuels.

WASHINGTON, DC, March 26, 2001 (ENS) - A new study by 10 leading acid rain researchers finds that despite emissions cuts required by 1990 changes to the Clean Air Act, northeast lakes, forests and streams are not recovering from the effects of acid rain. In fact, years of exposure to acid rain have made these ecosystems even more sensitive to additional pollution.

The researchers conducted the study in the same New Hampshire forest where acid rain was first detected almost 30 years ago, the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest.

"Scientific research suggests that the greater the cuts in emissions, the greater the extent and rate of ecological recovery," said Dr. Charles Driscoll, distinguished professor at Syracuse University and a primary author of the report. "Based on our scientific model, we know that the Clean Air Act has reduced sulfur deposition, but recovery from years of acid deposition will require much deeper cuts than called for 10 years ago."

An additional 80 percent reduction in sulfur emissions from electric utilities would be required to bring sensitive streams back to non-acidic levels within 20-25 years, shows a scientific model developed by the researchers.

The study, published in the March issue of the journal "BioScience," is the first to look at acid rain's effect in the Northeast since the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments that cut sulfur emissions from power plants. While progress has been made in cutting some emissions that cause acid rain, it will not be adequate for recovery in the Northeast and other acid sensitive regions, the researchers conclude.
. . . .
Many lakes and streams in New York's Adirondack mountains are seriously acidic.
. . . .

"The science on this issue is clear," says Dr. Gene Likens, director of the Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, New York. "Current emission control policies are not sufficient to recover sensitive watersheds in New England. The deeper the emissions cuts, and the sooner they are achieved, the greater the extent and rate of ecological recovery from acid deposition."

The report documents the harm caused by acid rain and concludes that acid rain has caused greater environmental impacts than many had projected 10 years earlier, when the 1990 Amendments of the Clean Air Act were implemented.

Power plants emit about 60 percent of all sulfur dioxide, with the largest amount coming from the midwestern United States. Prevailing winds blowing from west to east carry pollutants to New England and Canada where they are deposited in rain, snow, fog, gases and particles.
. . . .
Recovery of soil and trees is more difficult to project than recovery of surface waters and aquatic organisms.
. . . .

ITHACA, New York, June 21, 2002 (ENS) - Fungi on the roots of some trees in the Northeastern United States help supply calcium in forest soils damaged by acid rain.

Although forest scientists have known for more than three decades that acid rain causes the essential plant nutrient calcium to leach from forest soils, the role of root fungi was not suspected until about three years ago.
. . .
"Not all tree species are fortunate enough to be associated with the types of root fungi that supply calcium," said Timothy Fahey, a natural resources professor at Cornell University and a co-author of the report. Sugar maples, which in some areas have suffered major declines in recent years, are among those that do not host the fungi, he said.

Although our findings suggest that trees with the right fungal associations may be able to short circuit the loss of calcium in the soil, that may not get them around other problems with acidification of soil," added Fahey.

For example, when soil pH is lowered, and acidity rises, more natural aluminum is available to hinder plant growth. Fahey is one of the principal investigators in a soil study sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) at New Hampshire's Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest.

The Hubbard Brook study is testing the long term result of adding calcium to forested ecosystems to return acid base ratios to levels that may have existed a century ago, before industrial pollution began to change the chemical landscape of the northeastern United States. The Hubbard Brook researchers found that much of the calcium in some tree species growing in calcium poor, acidic soil was coming from apatite, a soil mineral mined by fungi on tree roots.
. . .

Nitrogen pollution is widespread in the ecosystems of the Northeastern United States and current policies will do little to change the situation, finds a new two year study coordinated by the Hubbard Brook Research Foundation.

Excess nitrogen in the environment degrades air quality, disrupts forest growth, acidifies lakes and streams and starves coastal waters of oxygen.
. . . .
Airborne emissions come primarily from vehicles and power plants, but current laws do not go far enough to remedy this growing concern according to the study's authors.

"Little progress has been made in reducing total emissions of nitrogen," said lead author Charles Driscoll, a Syracuse University environmental systems engineering professor.

"So unfortunately, we were not surprised that airborne nitrogen pollution continues to be a serious problem for Northeast forests and streams."
. . . .
The effects of nitrogen pollution do not just harm forests and watersheds, the researchers note. Nitrogen emissions are the primary source of ground level ozone, which is considered harmful to forest production and to human health. Some 26 million Americans in the Northeast are exposed to high ozone levels each year.

. . . .
Higher cumulative concentrations of ozone in rural areas had handicapped the rural trees, she concluded. It was not so much that the city trees were thriving as that the country trees were suffering.

In one sense, said Eva J. Pell, a professor of agricultural sciences at Pennsylvania State University, the study is "not so surprising." Plants vary in sensitivity to ozone, said Dr. Pell, who is not connected with the study, and cottonwoods are known to be somewhat sensitive. It is also known that pollution in urban areas could produce larger ozone concentrations downwind.
. . . .

From: Wilpost@aol.com
To: ghawkes@eco-systems.org
Date: Monday, August 06, 2001 5:42 PM

This is my 17th summer in Norway and I have noticed a worsening of air pollution since 1985.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is threatening to take over much of Ohio's air pollution control program after a lengthy review of the state's overall enforcement of environmental laws, USA Today reported this week.
. . . .
President Bush's nominee for the EPA's top enforcement job, Donald Schregardus, ran the Ohio EPA during much of the period examined by the federal EPA review, USA Today reported.
. . . .
The EPA could withdraw the takeover threat at the end of the year if Ohio takes enough action, the newspaper said.

ONTARIO HIT BY RECORD SMOG
excerpt from article titled Wasted Energy Means More Heat and Smog
published by Environmental News Network
Friday, August 24, 2001 ~ By David Suzuki

. . . . .
Southern Ontario has been especially hard hit with record smog. Last year, according to the Ontario Medical Association, about 1,900 premature deaths associated with air pollution occurred in Ontario, along with 47 million minor illness days. Transportation is the largest single culprit . . . .

SUDDEN OAK DEATH DISEASE FOUND IN SW OREGON
Date: August 10, 2001
For Immediate Release
Contacts:
Oregon Department of Agriculture, Bruce Pokarney, 503-986-4559
Oregon Department of Forestry, Rod Nichols, 503-945-7425
US Forest Service, Mary Marrs, 541-858-2211
Bureau of Land Management, Sue Richardson, 541-756-0100
EXCERPTS BELOW

The Oregon departments of Agriculture and Forestry (ODA, ODF), together with the USDA Forest Service (USFS), and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced today that Sudden Oak Death disease has been discovered in tanoak trees in the Brookings area in the southwestern-most corner of Oregon. . . .

An ODF and USFS cooperative aerial survey detected multiple sites that displayed symptoms of Sudden Oak Death. . . .

-----Original Message-----
From: Harvard <harvard@boone.net>
Date: Friday, August 24, 2001 9:55 AM
Subject: PA Blues

Ron Hancock (AppVoices cartographer) and I spent three days (August 20-22) this week flying over the Allegheny National Forest mapping declining maple/beech forests. The project is part of Appalachian Voices' multi-year Northern Hardwood Decline Survey which has mapped Northern decline from Pennsylvania to the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina/Tennessee. We mapped thousands of acres of the Forest that were essentially destroyed- in many cases, less than 30% of the trees were healthy, with many standing dead and others showing signs of serious ill health such as premature leaf turn to fall colors (which should be several weeks off). This serious problem extended into the Allegheny region of New York as well, although our emphasis had to be on our stated goal of mapping the ANF. We were joined by Don Hopey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Monday and by Rachel Martin of the Allegheny Defense Project on Tuesday. Our very capable pilot was Bud Miller of the Civil Air Patrol out of the Venango County airport in Franklin, PA.

Two areas in particular were found to be hard hit. The Tionesta Natural and Scenic Areas and the northern reaches of the ANF near Clarendon and Warren were found to each have thousands of acres of Beech/Maple forests that had few healthy trees and many standing dead. With few exceptions the worst hit areas were in the 1800-2200' elevation plateaus where the maple/beech forest was present. A number of these higher areas were not mapable due to recent clear cuts, which judging from the few remaining standing trees were apparently cut to salvage the sick and dying trees.

Another pattern we noted in the eastern part of the ANF near Kane was a "ruddy" appearence to the forest with some dying and dead trees evident. This color was due to the sugar maple trees turning to their fall colors, again a premature senesence indicating ill health. This was felt to be of particular importance since I had visited Bill Bilitskus' house and farm two years ago, at which time I saw that his woodlot was almost all dead or dying maple and beech, essentially all unhealthy. We took Bill's woodlot as a key from the air and found many similar areas in thousands of acres of the eastern ANF and surrounding private lands.

We employed a new technique of mapping from the air which consisted of USGS topo quadrangles which were on our computers. We were able by combining these maps with a battery-driven GPS to pin-point the progress of our plane across the map and thus knew our precise (within about 30 feet) location. We could then sketch on the computer screen the location of the decline given the obvious topographic features. What resulted were irregular
polygons within which the decline resided. This methodology is a considerable improvement of our earlier method of shuffling paper topo maps and doing our best to determine our location. We plan to apply this new improved mapping technique to other areas of the central and southern Apps, West Virginia being next.
. . . .
The cause of the decline in the Allegheny National Forest is not yet fully understood. On the ground, we noted evidence of the beech scale on dead and dying beech trees. Sugar maples in the area are well known to suffer from maple thrips, although we were not prepared to diagnose that disease. But both diseases are know to be opportunistic, preying on trees already in ill-health and under stress of some kind. A finding of a recent scientific
article in the journal Biosience (March, 2001) was that the sugar maple decline in Pennsylvania was possibly due to the impoverishment of the soils of critical nutrients such as calcium and magnesium. This impoverishment was linked to the acidification of the soils due to acid deposition. Western Pennsylvania is well-established as the area of the country that has the highest concentrations of acid deposition. Its proximity to numerous coal-fired power plants to the west and southwest is likely the reason it is so hard-hit.

Ron Hancock and I are planning to present the results of this Pennsylvania Northern Hardwood decline mapping in an AppVoices publication which should be completed by year's end. We will describe our methodology as well as present the maps of the decline.

An article titled SURVEY PROJECT MAPS TREE DEATH ALONG APPALACHIAN RIDGES with similar information to that contained in the email above appeared in the SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE section of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on 8/27/2001 by Don Hopey, Post-Gazette staff writer.

Russian scientists have found that industrial contamination of the atmosphere has more impact on flora and soil under trees -- and on the trees themselves -- than on the spaces between the crowns.

The study was funded by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research and a President's grant.

People normally consider a tree a natural umbrella, particularly good for hiding from the rain. A branchy firtree is able to hold up to a half of all the water pouring on it from the sky.

But, the scientists warn, in industrial zones, one should not use a firtree as an umbrella. Rain is contaminated in those zones, and after it is filtered through the crown of the tree, it is even more polluted.

This is the conclusion drawn by V. Nikonov and N. Loukina, researchers at the Institute of Industrial Ecology Problems of the North, Kolsky Scientific Center, Russian Academy of Sciences.

From 1991 to 1997, Nikonov and Loukina investigated acidity and composition of atmospheric precipitation in the pine and fir tree forests of the Kolsky Peninsula, where the SEVERONIKEL copper-nickel industrial complex is located. . . .
~ excerpt from a Daily University Science News article dated 18 December 2000
at http://unisci.com/stories/20004/1218006.htm

'Spiders' (confused clustering sprouts), which have extensively spread over the Moscow trees within the last 3 years are the evidence of an ecological catastrophe in Moscow. M. T. Mazurenko, Ph.D. (Biology), comments on the situation and comes forward with a solution to the problem.

Moscow birch tree with "spider branch." Trees closest to highways that experience traffic jams are the worst affected, indicating that automobile and truck exhaust are a key factor in causing the growth deformities.
~ caption of a photo that can be viewed at http://eces.org/gallery/airgfx/air24.shtml

Moscow birch tree with "spider branch," which Russian scientists call an ecological catastrophe. The crippled trees serve as an excellent biological indicator of living conditions unfavorable to life.
~ caption of a photo that can viewed at http://eces.org/gallery/airgfx/air25.shtml

Closeup of Moscow birch tree with "spider branch," which results when air pollution "fools" the tree into thinking its environment has become similar to semi-desert.
~ caption of a photo that can viewed at http://eces.org/gallery/airgfx/air26.shtml

Maple trees near the Kuntsevskaya metro station in Moscow displaying "spider" branching. Salt, air pollution from automobile exhaust, hazardous emissions from power plants and industry, and harmful fumes rising off of asphalt are the main factors causing premature death of the branch sprouts.
~ caption of a photo that can viewed at http://eces.org/gallery/airgfx/air27.shtml

Closeup of deformed "spider" branches on Moscow maple tree. The spider-branch phenomena first appeared in Moscow in the 1980s and was only noticed by tree experts, but has now become so widespread that it is very noticeable by even ordinary citizens.
~ caption of a photo that can viewed at http://eces.org/gallery/airgfx/air28.shtml

Moscow linden tree affected by "spider branch." The deformity causes premature death of the affected trees.
~ caption of a photo that can viewed at http://eces.org/gallery/airgfx/air29.shtml

Murmansk, Russia - Broad belts of pine and birch forest around the town of Monchegorsk have been destroyed by pollution from a nickel plant. Trees, even dozens of miles away, have died due to acid rain caused by the plant's pollution and thus are susceptible to forest fires. Conservationists mark the few surviving trees in some parts of the forest with red flags and labels to monitor their survival.
~ caption of a photo that can viewed at http://eces.org/gallery/forestsgfx/forests23.shtml

THE world's largest frozen peat bog is melting. An area stretching for a million square kilometres across the permafrost of western Siberia is turning into a mass of shallow lakes as the ground melts, according to Russian researchers just back from the region.

The sudden melting of a bog the size of France and Germany combined could unleash billions of tonnes of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere.

excerpts from
ACID RAIN WORKS FAST, STUDY FINDS
CNN & ENN - March 12, 1999
findings of this study were published in The Soil Science Society of America Journal in October 1998

Acid rain dissolves forest nutrients much faster than previously believed, posing a threat to future forest productivity, according to a study conducted by researchers from three universities in the southeastern United States.

The study shows that acid rain accelerated the nutrient-robbing acidification of forest soils by 38 percent at the Calhoun Experimental Forest in South Carolina, where soil data was collected over the past 30 years.

"We found a dramatic increase in acidity and a steady depletion of nutrients over this 30-year period," said Daniel Markewitz, a soil scientist in the University of Georgia's Warnell School of Forest Resources.

We found a dramatic increase in acidity and a steady depletion of nutrients over this 30-year period," said Daniel Markewitz, a soil scientist in the University of Georgia's Warnell School of Forest Resources.

Acid rain forms when emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide -- primarily from electric utility plants and automobile emissions -- react with water and oxygen in the atmosphere to produce acidic compounds. These compounds float to the ground, either in a dry form as gas particles or as precipitation, and strip the soil of nutrients and minerals as they percolates downward, gradually limiting forest productivity.

Acid rain also hampers the soil's ability to buffer trees from toxic substances such as aluminum and other heavy metals.

Researchers have been uncertain about the effects of acid rain because they have trouble distinguishing between human-made and natural sources of soil acidity. The study at the Calhoun Experimental Forest provided researchers with a rare opportunity to obtain reliable data because the forest service began recording soil data in 1957.
. . . .
Changes from 1962 to 1990 were dramatic. Soil pH, the measure of a compound's relative acidity or alkalinity, decreased by as much as one unit in the top 14 inches of soil and by half that amount in the lower 14 inches. A one pH unit decrease indicates a 10-fold increase in hydrogen concentration.
. . . .

Excerpts from
SOUTH PACIFIC BATTERED BY GLOBAL WARMING
by Diane Taylor ~ Reuters ~ November 27, 2000

South Pacific island nations have suffered more than US $1 billion in damages in the past 10 years from rising sea levels and tropical storms, the World Bank said in a report on the impact of global warming.
. . . .
The World Bank urged "climate change be considered one of the most important challenges of the 21st Century."
. . . .
the Pacific island people confront a future that will differ drastically from the past
. . . .
The World Bank said island nations face significant losses in coastal infrastructure and land, more intense cyclones and droughts, failure of subsistence crops and fisheries, losses in coral reefs and the spread of malaria and dengue fever.
. . . .

. . . .
The exodus of Tuvaluans is likely to start in 2002 . . .
. . . .
Tuvaluans are convinced that climate change is already a reality for them, and point to several problems they blame on rising global temperatures.

Paani Laupepa told BBC News Online: "We have coastal erosion, droughts, and in the last decade we have also experienced an unusually high level of tropical cyclones. Salt water intrusion is becoming a problem, and this has affected our traditional food crops.

"Perhaps the most pronounced effect of climate change that we are actually seeing is the flooding of low-lying areas. A couple of decades ago the flooding was not so bad as last year's, and to us living on the atolls, this is an increasing sign of the times."

And Mr Laupepa was bitterly critical of the US for abandoning the international agreement on how to tackle climate change, the Kyoto Protocol.

He told BBC News Online: "By refusing to ratify the protocol the US has effectively denied future generations of Tuvaluans their fundamental freedom to live where our ancestors have lived for thousands of years."
. . . .
. . . . consequences could be severe not only for island states like Tuvalu, but also for low-lying countries like Bangladesh, which is predicted to lose about 17% of its land to the sea.
. . . .

Excerpt from
SRI LANKA EXPERIENCING DROUGHT FOR FIRST TIME IN 50 YEARS
Friday, September 21, 2001
By Shimali Senanayake, Associated Press

At Big Bend National Park in Texas, vistas that once allowed the visitor to see for 100 miles or more are clouded by haze, particularly in summer. The National Park Service has measured visibility as low as nine miles, and average summer visibility has declined from 85 miles just a few years ago to 43 miles today.
~ excerpt from Pollution, Toxic Waste Eat Away at U.S. National Parks ~ Tuesday, May 8, 2001 ~ see http://www.enn.com/news/enn-stories/2001/05/05082001/parks_43408.asp

excerpts from
A PRISTINE PARK BEGINS TO FADE
CBS News Correspondent Maureen Maher for CBS News Sunday Morning
Big Bend National Park, Texas ~ Sept. 2, 2001

The Big Bend National Park in west Texas is in the middle of nowhere, all 800,000 acres of it. Big Bend is 300 miles from the nearest city, a spectacular area of desert badlands, rugged mountains, river canyons and breathtaking vistas, at the tip of Texas along the Rio Grande border with Mexico.
. . . .
But air pollution is wafting over Big Bend. The situation is so bad that Big Bend has just been named one of the 10 most endangered parks in the nation. There is trouble in paradise.
. . . .

. . . . first results of the University of California Pacific Rim Aerosol Network
. . . .
. . . . rising industrialization in Asia is discharging millions of tons of previously undetected contaminants annually into the winds that travel across the Pacific Ocean. These aerosols make people sick and destroy crops in Asia, may be polluting American waters and could dramatically change global climate.
. . . .
. . . . there are increasing numbers of reports of what appear to be toxic Asian pollutants in the lakes and streams of North America.
. . . .
Once released into the air, aerosols ride the wind over land and sea, rising to altitudes of several miles, where their travel is sped by the dry atmosphere and swift winds. Wherever they go, they retain a unique signature of their origins in their composition of trace elements, such as nickel, copper, zinc, arsenic and lead. Aerosols with these unique signatures from Asia have been detected all the way to the U.S. Rocky Mountains

NASA researchers at the American Geophysical Union meeting announced Monday that they discovered an important link between air pollution and rainfall.

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, a joint U.S.-Japan effort, collected rainfall data in the earth's tropics over three years. The highly accurate images reveal that tropical rainfall can be significantly reduced by man-made pollution.
. . . .

Excerpts from
THOUSANDS AT RISK AS AIR POLLUTION REACHES DANGER MARK
Paul Brown, environment correspondent
Saturday January 20, 2001
The Guardian

Britain is suffering the worst air pollution episode since 1991
. . . .
The government has been gradually reducing air pollution by measures to encourage cleaner engines and the fitting of particulate traps to commercial vehicles. Clean diesel is also reducing the danger.

However, government scientists estimate that despite these measures, 10,000 deaths are brought forward each year in Britain by air pollution, because the peaks in death rates coincide with higher air pollution. The Europe-wide figure is 40,000.

By Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor for the Millennium Debate - 4 February 2001

Camden and Haringey in London and the centres of Newcastle and Nottingham have some of the cleanest air in the country, a new government report concludes. It found that they suffer only a fraction of the number of days of severe pollution experienced by some places in the heart of the British countryside.

This startling finding, published in the first of a series of annual assessments on how ministers are meeting their environmental, economic and social targets, dramatically illustrates the Government's failure to control pollution by ozone within its clean-up strategy.

A troublesome constituent of smog, which aggravates asthma, ozone is formed by a complex series of chemical reactions caused by the effect of sunlight on other pollutants, largely emitted from vehicle exhausts.

This takes time to happen, and in the meantime the pollution drifts out from the cities to cover the countryside.

THE floods that have ravaged Britain in recent weeks are the result of global warming, according to a senior government minister.

In the first official admission that climate change was to blame, Environment Minister Michael Meacher said: "Anyone who lives in Kent and Sussex knows the truth of the matter."

His candid acceptance of the "theory" long held by experts came during a question and answer session at the Countryside Conference at the Royal Geographical Society last week.

He added: "Climate change is not an abstract construct happening in 100, 50 or 20 years. It's happening now."
. . . .

Amid the recent hoopla over the EPA and Bush administration's plans to make it easy for power plants, oil refineries and chemical factories (major sources of acid rain nationwide) to expand without installing new pollution controls and the Senate's consideration of Clean Power Act, there's an important new wrinkle to the story.

A new study revealed that acid rain's damage to America's forests may be much more widespread than previously believed. It may actually create conditions in trees similar to compromised immune systems in humans, establishing a vulnerably with grave potential implications.

"As with immune-compromised humans, plants may appear and function as if they were healthy, until exposed to even a routine stress or disease, then experience declines far more exaggerated than expected," says Donald DeHayes, Dean and Professor in the School of Natural Resources at The University of Vermont. DeHayes co-authored a study in the most recent issue of the journal "Ecosystem Health" released in June at an international conference on Ecosystem and Human Health in Washington, DC, which was attended by about 1000 environmental scientists and policy makers.

Up to now, acid rain has been associated with the decline of forests in certain specific locations. DeHayes and colleagues, UVM senior researcher Gary Hawley and USDA Forest Service scientist and UVM adjunct faculty Paul Schaberg previously documented the mechanism through which acid rain depletes calcium and weakens high elevation red spruce trees, making them more vulnerable to winter freezing injury.

Their new work shows that this mechanism is also applicable to other tree species, including balsam fir, white pine, and eastern hemlock. Because calcium is a critical ingredient in the plant's stress response system, acid rain's depletion of cellular calcium may suppress the capacity of trees to survive environmental stresses.

This connection between calcium deficiency and environmental stress exposure are common components in the declines of several tree species, including red spruce, sugar maple, and flowering dogwood. Their "immune response" hypothesis provides an overarching explanation of how acid rain ultimately threatens forests. The findings are especially relevant now because a growing assortment of human influences -- climate change, pollutants, and new pests and diseases, are burdening our forests.

"If extensive, the decline of individual species would radiate through plant communities," says DeHayes. "It would alter the competition and survival of populations, perhaps even species, including animals at higher levels of the forest food chains." DeHayes points out those calcium deficiencies in plants are passed on to herbivores, altering their nutrition. For instance, birds eating calcium- deficient plant material might have less calcium for egg production. Insects could experience weaker exoskeletons. Mammals could have weaker bones or change in the quantity or quality of milk production. The problems continue through the ecosystem and into economic system.

Ironically, the research was funded through the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with long-term support of Vermont Sen. James Jeffords (I-VT).

"This important new research shows the insidious harm that acid rain is causing to our trees and wildlife," says Jeffords. We know how to stop acid rain, but have not had the will to do so." Jeffords, chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, is legislating for the Clean Power Act, which he co-authored and introduced in March 2001.

After I published the brief article on the death and decline in Lucy Braun's mixed mesophytic forest in American Forests magazine, the editors received the following letter from a private forestry consultant named E. Gerry Hawkes.

. . . .
To be sure, there are some who may argue that the ramifying progression of tree death and forest decline in this century, and especially since World War II, is either coincidence or simply a matter of selective reporting. Everything is all right. Not to worry. It's just a natural ebb and flow of nature. But that is not what I have heard from the scores of scientific scholars I have interviewed, or the mountain of papers I have studied. They say something else. E. Gerry Hawkes had it right: "Count me as an 'alarmist.' " It seems to me that what he and Mollie Beattie and David Marvin and Mel Tyree and a dozen Canadian scientists and Orie Loucks and Mark McClure and Mie Ostry and Kate Kajtha and all the others whom I personally visited or whose papers have been quoted in this and in preceding chapters - what these distinguished people are describing is, when aggregated, a pandemic.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - University of California Riverside Earth Scientist Martin Kennedy and colleagues report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that acid rain, by leaching essential metal nutrients (such as potassium, calcium, and magnesium) from topsoil, may pose a far graver threat to forests than has been previously estimated. This result would especially interest ecologists, biologists, geologists, and policy makers.

"Our work shows that in unperturbed natural ecosystems a very small pool of these nutrients is available and this comes from the atmosphere, mostly as dilute amounts dissolved in rain that then get deposited in topsoil," said Kennedy. "The tight budget of these nutrients is a concern because if the budget is perturbed, the forests are at risk."

. . . According to Katie Alvord's book Divorce Your Car, one-third of the average city's land is devoted to serving the car, including roads, service stations, and the parking lot at Wal-Mart. In 1970, Americans drove 1 trillion miles per year; it's been more than 2 trillion a year since the mid-1990s. There are more than 220 million registered automobiles in the United States alone, and their numbers will soon overtake the human population.
. . .
GM President Charles Wilson, who became Secretary of Defense in 1953, used his position to proclaim that a new road system was vital to U.S. security needs. He was assisted by newly appointed Federal Highway Administrator Francis DuPont, whose family was then the largest GM shareholder. Acting on a bill introduced by Senator Albert Gore Sr., Congress approved the $25 billion Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. "The greatest public works program in the history of the world," as Secretary of Commerce Sinclair Weeks called it, was on, and with it were planted the seeds of our current gridlock.
. . .
The highway lobby is very much still with us today. For example, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials represents all 50 state highway departments and has a $14 million annual budget. The Washington, D.C.–based American Highway Users Alliance has a staff of 12 and a $2 million annual budget. Formerly the Highway Users Federation, it was created in 1932 by GM "on the not unreasonable assumption that healthy GM auto sales required plenty of roads." Funding comes from member organizations like the American Trucking Association (itself a $35 million lobbying group), the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, and the American Petroleum Institute.
. . .
The best way to reduce traffic congestion, obviously, is to get people out of their cars and into alternative forms of transportation. And that is starting to happen.
. . .
In one passenger mile, rail generates .01 grams of hydrocarbons, a bus .20, and a car 2.09. The figures for carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide are just as dramatic.
. . .
If there's one lesson to be learned from the United States' current state of gridlock, it's that you can't build out of congestion. If that were possible, Los Angeles would be a traveler's paradise today. Don Chen, director of Smart Growth America, points to a University of California study showing that a 1 percent increase in lane miles will generate a just-under 1 percent increase in traffic congestion within five years. "If people see a free-flowing road, they'll use it," said Chen. "This has been well-documented in dozens of surveys going back 50 years." Despite the best efforts of the highway lobby, we've got to forget about paving over our problems and apply new solutions.

Excerpt from
POLLUTED AIR REACHING MORE AMERICANS
by Natalie Pawelski
CNN Environment Unit
May 1, 2001

More Americans are living with unhealthy air, according to a new report from the American Lung Association.

"The air is dirty nationwide. The smog problem is pervasive," said the ALA's Paul Billings.

MONTREAL — North American power companies, the continent's biggest polluters, slashed spending on energy efficiency programs by 42 percent between 1995 and 1999, in part because of the deregulation of electricity markets

. . . "Much of the electricity demand growth during this period could have been significantly moderated by energy efficiency measures, thus avoiding the associated air pollution and other environmental impacts

. . . The study came just two days after the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush said it would relax costly air pollution rules when utilities are repaired or expanded. The move triggered a storm of protest from environmental groups, who warned that would increase air pollution and worsen respiratory ailments such as asthma.

. . . North America's electricity sector is the top polluter because of the use of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gas in many power plants. In 1999, the year for which the most recent data is available, power plants reported the largest toxic releases of all industrial sectors. They emitted 450,000 tons of pollutants to air, land, and water

. . . In the United States, the electricity sector produces one-quarter of all air emissions of nitrogen oxides, 70 percent of the sulfur dioxide, 25 percent of mercury, and 35 percent of carbon dioxide.

. . . There are plans to build nearly 2,000 new generating units in North America by 2007, a 50 percent increase over current installed capacity.

MERCURY FALLING
An Analysis of Mercury Pollution from Coal-Burning Power Plants
Natural Resources Defense Council ~ November 1999

Coal-burning power plants are the single largest source of mercury pollution, and the only major source the government does not regulate.
. . .
Mercury pollution is a major worldwide environmental problem with serious immediate and long-term implications for human health. Mercury is an extremely volatile metal that can be transported great distances after it is spewed into the atmosphere. Once it reaches an aquatic environment, mercury is transformed into methylmercury, a potent neurotoxin, which accumulates in top predator fish and the people and wildlife who eat them.
. . .
Mercury never disappears in the environment, ensuring that contamination today will remain a problem a long time into the future.

Jet emissions get scant focus in U.S., but issue on U.N. agenda for climate talks.
. . . .
Commercial jet engines deposit pollution in some of the most potentially sensitive areas of the atmosphere: both in “mixing zones,” crucial areas just above the ground where chemicals heavily impact ground pollution; and in its upper reaches, where exhaust builds ozone and greenhouse gases.

NASA researchers also have warned that jet contrails — those long streams of water vapor jets leave behind — are a major factor in the formation of cirrus clouds, which contribute to a warming climate.

. . .
Recent research has also shown that it is extremely toxic to the immune system. Mark Witten, a toxicologist at the University of Arizona, Tucson, whose work is funded by the US Air Force, was astounded by what JP-8 does to mice that inhale it. "It's just wrecking their immune systems," he says. "I've never seen a chemical that can so completely wipe out an animal's defences." . . .

Ozone is formed in the troposphere when sunlight causes complex photochemical reactions involving oxides of nitrogen and hydrocarbons that originate chiefly from gasoline engines and burning of other fossil fuels. These primary pollutants are transported long distances by regional weather patterns.
. . .
Ozone enters leaves through stomata during normal gas exchange. As a strong oxidant, O₃ (or secondary products resulting from oxidation by O₃ such as free radicals) causes several types of symptoms including chlorosis and necrosis. It is almost impossible to tell whether foliar chlorosis or necrosis in the field is caused by O₃ or normal senescence. Several additional symptom types are commonly associated with O₃exposure, however. These include flecks (tiny light-tan irregular spots less than 1mm diameter), stipples (small darkly pigmented areas approximately 2-4 mm diameter), bronzing, and reddening. Ozone symptoms usually occur between the veins on the upper leaf surface of older and middle-aged leaves, but may also involve both leaf surfaces (bifacial) for some species. The type and severity of injury is dependent on several factors including duration and concentration of O₃ exposure, weather conditions, and plant genetics. One or all of these symptoms can occur on some species under some conditions, and specific symptoms on one species can differ from symptoms on another. With continuing daily O₃ exposure, classical symptoms (stippling, flecking, bronzing, and reddening) are gradually obscurred by chlorosis and necrosis.
. . .

In response to increasing public concern about air pollution, acid rain, global climate change, and long-term resource management, Federal and State agencies put together a program to monitor and report on status and trends in forest ecosystem health. This is the Forest Health Monitoring Program or FHM. FHM is a national program that uses data from ground plots and surveys (e.g., the ozone biomonitoring network), aerial surveys, and other biotic and abiotic data bases to develop a comprehensive annual assessment of forest health.

Ground level ozone is an air pollutant in the lower atmosphere formed from the reactions of hydrocarbons and nitrous oxides in the presence of sunlight. Automobile engines and industrial processes produce most of the compounds that result in ozone. It is a major element of urban smog. The airborne transport of ozone to remote forested areas has led to increasing concern about how this pollutant is influencing the health of our national forests. Possible impacts of ozone on forested species include reduced growth and seed production and increased susceptibility to insects and disease. Long-term ozone stress may lead to changes in species composition and biodiversity.

. . . . the effects of ozone on plants is both cumulative and long-term. The general public is mostly unaware of the sensitivity of plants to ozone. Many scientists believe we need a new and stronger secondary ozone standard to protect plants from the harmful effects of ozone. The EPA has so far refused to adopt this recommendation from the scientific community. Data from the ozone biomonitoring network in FHM may help to reverse this decision the next time the national ozone standards are reviewed.

WASHINGTON — More than half of all Americans breathe polluted air that can damage their health because the government doesn't fully enforce clean air laws, the American Lung Association said Wednesday.

WASHINGTON, DC, May 13, 2002 (ENS) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expanding its efforts to provide localized "same day" and "next day" smog forecasts across the nation.

. . . Go to http://www.epa.gov/airnow/ to access this service which also includes ways to change your home, transportation and consumer habits to help reduce air pollution.

Thirty years ago you never saw brown NOx pollution on the horizon. Now it is common

Years ago, brown spring leaves on an individual tree were an unhealthy sign. Now the forests are filled with brown spring leaves.

DISASTER IN THE BRANCHES
by Michael Caduto
click on link for full text
"A lot of people are not willing to project a future for which there is no historical precedent. In the past there have been ups and downs in tree health, but this forest decline is different." ~ Gerry Hawkes

In 1998, Shenandoah National Park recorded higher concentrations of ozone than any city in the Southeast except Atlanta, Ga., and Charlotte, N.C. (see the report Air Pollution In Our Parks 1999)

From: ghawkes@eco-systems.org
To: Recipients of saf-news <saf-news@igc.apc.org>
Date: Thursday, May 29, 1997 6:28 AM
Subject: Dead & Dying Trees - Shenandoah

If anyone doubts the destructive power of air pollution, just go to Shenandoah National Park and look at what was the forest along Skyline Drive.

For many miles all you will find is dead and dying trees. You will see signs that blame the destruction on the Gypsy Moth or the Hemlock Wooley Adelgid and rangers will tell you that Hurricane Fran blew down many trees, but also ask at the visitors' center for information on air pollution and watch the short air pollution video for a little insight into the underlying causes for the destruction.

I visited the park recently with a forest ecologist from Kentucky and his jaw dropped (so did mine) at the scope of the devastation.

Gerry Hawkes
Forest Management & Utilization Consultant
Woodstock, Vermont
>> ---------------End of Original Message-----------------

There is no conclusive scientific evidence about either the positive or negative effects of air pollution on the vigor of hardwood trees. There is solid scientific evidence that a reduction in vigor will predispose trees to mortality when attacked by gypsy moth or other agents. Gypsy moth's effects on Shenandoah National Park have been well documented over the last decade and have occurred simultaneously with several severe droughts and overstocked, physiologically mature stands which together result in considerably mortality. These same levels of mortality from gypsy moth, stand conditions, and drought have occurred in other areas of Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan in the last decade, some of which do not have air pollution levels as high as the Shenandoah. As for the lack of regeneration in these stands of high mortality, that is also common to some of the other areas, especially Pennsylvania, and is usually a result of high deer populations that through overbrowsing prevent regeneration. Shenandoah National Park is being devastated but it is due to a complex of interacting factors all working together. Air pollution may be one of these factors. As one who has spent the last 15 years researching gypsy-related mortality, the scene at Shenandoah is not unique. My recent work has shown that using silviculture to improve tree vigor via thinnings will reduce the mortality that occurs from gypsy moth defoliation.

Sincerely,
Dr. Kurt W. Gottschalk                     kurt@gypsy.fsl.wvnet.edu
Silvicultural Options for the Gypsy Moth
USDA Forest Service                        Voice: (304)285-1598
Northeastern Forest Experiment Station
180 Canfield St.                           Fax: (304)285-1505
Morgantown, WV 26505-3101 USA
05/29/97 13:40:22


Standing Dead		Broken Trees		Dead Trees Over Many Thousands of Acres		Decayed Root Systems

Same view at Shenandoah National Park on a poor air quality day. . . . In the last 50 years, visibility in Shenandoah and Great Smoky national parks has been reduced to one quarter its natural range due to high levels of air pollution. (Photo from U.S. EPA.)
~ excerpts from the caption of a photo that can be viewed at http://eces.org/gallery/airgfx/air06.shtml

Three weeks ago, heavier than normal (always bad) air pollution flooded into the valleys of WV with dire effects. The needles of the White Pine began to look like a bunch of granddaddy long legs.....that had been stepped on. (see pg. 69-An Appalachian Tragedy and double and triple the evidence as is in the photo). Also, UV-B climbed into the 80's and the two killers joined forces to wreak havoc on all life forms............as burnt skin showed up on so many of our unsuspecting people.

Altho several species of trees had been showing "Autumn/fall like" conditions since May, yet things quickly changed; Yellow and bright red leaves quickly appeared on many plant species while other leaves began to bleach, curl, shrivel up, and die. Leaves from the Black Walnut, Ailanthus, White Ash, Apple, etc, poured to the ground as they would after the first frost. Other leaves bleached and curled (Pg. 68-An Appalachian Tragedy) and showed ugly brown spots. (Pg. 5-An Appalachian Tragedy) Last year's compound leaf stems that still hang on the branches of several species of our trees do bear witness to the ugly scenario that is being played out for this year........and the show goes on.

Humans fare no better as the air pollution did greatly irritate throat, nasal, ear and lung tissue with many going to a doctor for relief. Burning red eyes, swollen nasal passages, coughing, and headaches were in abundance and were much more than common. Children grew weak and sweated profusely as they tried to play and many threw up for no apparent reason other than the stress from air pollution. Also, children and adults do not want to be outside very much anymore as they simply cannot bear the glare from our now "Fluorescent Sun"--

AN EXCERPT FROM "AN APPALACHIAN TRAGEDY"
By Dr. Orie Loucks
Ohio Eminent Scholar in applied Ecosystem Studies and Professor of Zoology At Miami University, Oxford Ohio
(Complete story on pages 95--96--97 of "An Appalachian Tragedy".)

After an examination of two large, green, just fallen "Yellow Poplars" that had toppled from root rot, Dr. Orie Loucks rehearses an ugly scenario in thought;

"I thought about all the other species that we knew had begun to die off in these (WV and eastern) mountains: Red Mulberry in the early 1960's,Chinquapin, Chestnut, Butternut, and Black oak in the 1970's; and Yellow Locust, Sassafras, Hickories,Walnut,the White Oaks, Beech, Yellow Buckeye, White Basswood, Dogwood, Hemlock,and Sugar Maples in the 1980's. Once the previously most disease-resistant species, Yellow "Tulip" Poplar now appeared to be at risk
. . . .
I was reminded in clear images of the healthy old-growth forest I had grown up with and the mortality they had begun to experience in the 1980's. I was reminded of as well of the soft green and yellow Carolina Parakeet--the only parrot to inhabit eastern North America . . . . extinct since 1909 . . . ..hardly remembered.
. . . .
Now, almost a century later, not only are birds, mammals, and soil insects at risk, even the tree species and ecosystems are at risk. With much more research, we might understand the casual agents precisely involved, and based on that, might propose measures to restore integrity and healthy function to the systems at risk. We do have compelling scientific evidence already. A decision to act now on that evidence seems mainly a matter of whether to care about posterity, as my great-grandfather cared more than a century ago. His was a personal decision, you say, and more compelling science is needed today to persuade us moderns. An essentially conservative view, however, flows from how we value the modern parakeet, the forest of the eastern mountains, and whether we see it as warranting care and prudence, given what we know. Several generations of experience and research clearly indicate prudence now.

excerpt from
DEATHS OF THE LITTLE BIGHORNS
(08/29/2001) Los Angeles Times

. . . . profound environmental changes are beginning to ripple through the food chain and into the bodies of lambs. They are learning that even these reclusive bighorn sheep, masters of evasion, can't escape pollution that falls from the sky.


ACID FOG		LEAF DAMAGE


Infected Stump		Dying Top		Declining Redwoods