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Article: Death in the city. (Urban).(photochemical smog)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Canada and the World Backgrounder
- Article date:
- September 1, 2002
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Canada & the World. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Hacking and wheezing through smog alerts is becoming a frequent experience for Canada's city dwellers. And, as 78% of Canadians live in urban areas, that means most of us.
By far the largest and worst affected area is southern Ontario. This heavily populated region creates enough air pollution on its own to cause plenty of coughing and spluttering. But, the quantity of locally generated pollutants is doubled by contributions from the United States. A southerly flow of air pumps thousands of tonnes of soot and gases, from coal-fired power stations and industry in the Ohio Valley, up into Ontario.
Now, add a blistering July sun; all the goop in the air ...