ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, August 26, 1996 TAG: 9608260106
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
THE HAZE lay like a shroud along the Blue Ridge last week, a veil that hid the mountains but gave the Roanoke Valley a clear view of the environmental and economic costs of society's dependence on fossil fuels.
That, and the effects of humid summer weather.
The haze did not present a crisis. It was hardly a rarity. Valley residents are familiar with the occasional thermal inversion, an atmospheric condition that traps surface air which otherwise would rise and carry off pollutants. Instead, lingering particles and gases scatter or absorb light - and reduce visibility.
The lowering of that curtain between the valley and its mountain vistas illustrates the collective and cumulative impact that the nation's heavy dependence on fossil fuels has on the environment.
It's a summertime reminder, in the negative, that spectacular views contribute to the quality of life of those who live in and around the valley, and are important to the success of the area's tourist industry - including efforts to attract travelers to the national forests, the Blue Ridge Parkway and Interstate 81.
It also underscores the need for regional solutions to decrease pollutants and clear the air.
The haze is created by a combination of high temperatures, high relative humidity, stagnant air masses and high pollution concentration. No one can do anything about the weather. Not so with pollution.
The Southern Appalachian Assessment, a collaborative study released recently by a slew of federal and state agencies, universities, special-interest groups and individuals, found that since the 1940s, visibility has deteriorated significantly in the mountains, foothills and valleys of the Southern Appalachians.
It's not just the humidity. There apparently is a strong correlation between haziness and sulfur dioxide, released into the air from burning fossil fuels and carried sometimes hundreds of miles from the source.
Obviously, reducing such pollution will take collaborative efforts over a wide stretch of the country. Only part of the pollution originates here. Amendments to the federal Clean Air Act eventually should improve visibility throughout the region, according to the Southern Appalachian Assessment. That's good news.
Closer to home, though, Western Virginia localities expecting even moderate growth also need regional plans (see above) that will help reduce automobile-choked sprawl and the pollution that it sends into our air.
We don't want to lose sight of our mountains' importance.
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