An online exhibit details Utah's unique air pollution problem going back to the 1880s when Utahns referred to the winter pollution as 'smoke evil' or the 'smoke nuisance.'
SALT LAKE CITY — When did Utahns start to recognize the pollution problem in the Salt Lake Valley and start to advocate for cleaner air?The History of Air Quality in UtahIt is a fascinating digital compilation of historical photos and articles from the University of Utah's J. Willard Marriott Library. It details Utah's unique air pollution problem going back to the 1880s when Utahns referred to the winter pollution as "smoke evil" or the "smoke nuisance.
The exhibit, which includes links to photos and articles expands on a research paper Mitchell wrote last year.When he first pursued the question, he thought, maybe pollution had become a public issue in the last decade or two. As he scoured the archives, he discovered air quality has been a persistent concern as long as people have lived on the Wasatch Front.
The exhibit compiles old photos along with modern pictures of the state's smog problems through the decades. "They didn't talk about air quality back then," he said. "They talked about smoke, because you could see these plumes of smoke coming out of chimneys, and they were like, 'That is bad. That's bad for our health.'"
Last century, when Utahns used coal to heat their homes and buildings, the bowl-like topography created some of the worst air quality in the world.In the 1940s, scientists at the University of Utah started to understand that Utah's topography and meteorology trapped the pollution during our temperature inversions."It's very clear that our air quality today is probably better than it has been since any time since probably the 1880s," Mitchell said.
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