| Air Quality |
Importance/Issues
Good air quality is essential for both human and ecosystem health. In South Florida airborne toxins, such as mercury, are causing harm to our National Parks. Everglades National Park, for example, has high levels of mercury in sediment, vegetation, and in wildlife. Frogs, alligators, wading birds, fish, and the endangered Florida Panther have been found to contain elevated mercury levels. Atmospheric deposition of nitrogen is also a concern. Virgin Island parks have challenges with African dust and volcanic eruptions that reduce air quality. High dust concentrations in the Virgin Islands have been linked to a rise in the number of asthma cases among children during these high volume dust deposition events. The National Park Service is actively monitoring the amount of pollution that is brought into our parks through atmospheric processes. |
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Air Quality in our National Parks |
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Reports & References |
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Monitoring
The Air Resources Division of the National Park Service measures air pollution levels and current air quality conditions in our parks through the Air Monitoring Program. The program currently has air monitoring stations in almost 70 National Parks and focuses on three primary components: visibility, gaseous pollutants (ozone), and wet and dry atmospheric deposition (e.g. dust, nitrogen, sulfur, and mercury). Meteorological monitoring also occurs at some locations.
Parks are placed in one of two monitoring categories. Class I areas have the highest level of air quality protection under the law. These are national parks that were in existence when the Clean Air Act was amended in 1977 and are larger than 6,000 acres or have over 5,000 acres of wilderness areas. There are currently 48 National Park System units that fall into Class I. All other units fall under Class II. These areas allow moderate pollution increases. Everglades National Park and Virgin Islands National Park are two SFCN parks that fall into the Class I category.
Visit
the following links for the Air Quality Monitoring pages for more comprehensive information:
South Florida/Caribbean Network (SFCN)
Everglades National Park
Virgin Islands National Park
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