The Struggle for Clean Air in the Salt Lake Valley

The Andre Alves Podcast Show

Poor air quality has been a major concern for Utah residents for quite some time, especially for those living along the Wasatch Front in the greater Salt Lake City area. Through a combination of harmful chemical processes, a rapidly rising population, greenhouse gas emissions, and the unique geographical landscape, the air pollution in Utah ranks among the highest in the country. This phenomenon not only poses great health risks for Utah residents, but it will eventually lead to significant economic consequences for the state as well. The main source of this pollution comes from temperature inversions. This occurs when the atmospheric conditions of winter are inverted, and a dense layer of cold air gets trapped under a layer of warm air. This allows the warm layer to attract and trap pollutants in the cold air, closest to the valley floor. This is especially concerning because prolonged periods of inversion will lead to high amounts of particulate pollution in the air, and these tiny pollutants can lodge deep into the lung tissue, causing a range of breathing problems. These periods of high PM2.5 pollution in metropolitan areas has led to a steadily increasing amount of lung-related health issues for patients in the Salt Lake Valley, including fully developed asthma in some cases. According to a study done by the University of Utah Health Department, researchers found that women living along the Wasatch Front faced a 16% higher than average chance of having a miscarriage during pregnancy. Additionally, the American Lung Association ranked the Salt Lake City metropolitan area as the 6th worst city for particulate pollution matter in the United States. As residents and city officials alike have taken notice of this major problem looming over the Salt Lake Valley for so long, people have begun to act to put an end to this problem. Several clean air bills have been passed in legislature, various activist groups have emerged demanding reforms and regulations, and government spending has slowly allocated increasing funds for projects aimed at helping clean the air in the SLC region. Thom Carter, Executive Director for the Utah Clean Air Partnership, is working everyday to find more ways to combat this pollution phenomenon. Despite the current state of things, Thom is still optimistic that Utahns will find a way to have clean, healthy air in the next few years.