National Air Pollution Symposium

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SRI participant Paul Magill discussing the smog on Black Friday in Los Angeles at the first National Air Pollution Symposium in 1949 SRI Air Pollution study 1949.jpg
SRI participant Paul Magill discussing the smog on Black Friday in Los Angeles at the first National Air Pollution Symposium in 1949

The National Air Pollution Symposium was held on November 1011, 1949 in Pasadena, California by the Stanford Research Institute (now SRI International), along with assistance from the California Institute of Technology, the University of Southern California and the University of California. [1]

Pasadena, California City in California, United States

Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located 10 miles northeast of Downtown Los Angeles.

SRI International United States research institute

SRI International (SRI) is an American nonprofit scientific research institute and organization headquartered in Menlo Park, California. The trustees of Stanford University established SRI in 1946 as a center of innovation to support economic development in the region.

California Institute of Technology private research university located in Pasadena, California

The California Institute of Technology (Caltech) is a private doctorate-granting research university in Pasadena, California. Known for its strength in natural science and engineering, Caltech is often ranked as one of the world's top-ten universities.

SRI had performed much of the early research on air pollution and the formation of ozone in the lower atmosphere. [2] About 400 scientists, businessmen, and politicians attended the event, which was the first event of its kind. The conference (and subsequent conferences) spurred some of the early pollution and climate change research, as well as early climate change legislation including the Air Pollution Control Act of 1955. [3]

Air pollution introduction of particulates, biological molecules, or other harmful materials into the Earths atmosphere

Air pollution occurs when harmful or excessive quantities of substances including gases, particles, and biological molecules are introduced into Earth's atmosphere. It may cause diseases, allergies and even death to humans; it may also cause harm to other living organisms such as animals and food crops, and may damage the natural or built environment. Both human activity and natural processes can generate air pollution.

Ozone chemical compound

Ozone, or trioxygen, is an inorganic molecule with the chemical formula O
3
. It is a pale blue gas with a distinctively pungent smell. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic allotrope O
2
, breaking down in the lower atmosphere to O
2
(dioxygen). Ozone is formed from dioxygen by the action of ultraviolet light (UV) and electrical discharges within the Earth's atmosphere. It is present in very low concentrations throughout the latter, with its highest concentration high in the ozone layer of the stratosphere, which absorbs most of the Sun's ultraviolet (UV) radiation.

Air Pollution Control Act

The Air Pollution Control Act of 1955 was the first Clean Air Act enacted by Congress to address the national environmental problem of air pollution on July 14, 1955. This was "an act to provide research and technical assistance relating to air pollution control". The act "left states principally in charge of prevention and control of air pollution at the source". The act declared that air pollution was a danger to public health and welfare, but preserved the "primary responsibilities and rights of the states and local government in controlling air pollution".

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References

  1. "The First National Air Pollution Symposium". SRI International . Retrieved 2012-08-27.
  2. Nielson, Donald (2006). A Heritage of Innovation: SRI's First Half Century. Menlo Park, California: SRI International. pp. 9–18 – 9–21. ISBN   978-0-9745208-1-0.
  3. Gibson, Weldon B. (1986). SRI: The Take-Off Days. Los Altos, California: Stanford Research Institute. pp. 48, 55, 149, 168, 181. ISBN   0-86576-103-5.