Ask A Scientist© Environmental Science Archive

Author:     deanna
Text:       Is there a relationship between the weather and pollution?

Response #: 1 of 1
Author:     Don Libby
Text:       There are some interesting relationships between weather and 
pollution, one of the best known and understood is smog. Smog happens in 
cities when a layer of cold air traps warmer air underneath, along with all 
the pollutants produced in the city. This accumulation can affect the health 
of humans by exacerbating respiratory disease. Acid rain is another phenomenon 
that links pollution with weather: when sulfur-dioxide gases produced by 
hydrocarbon combustion combine in the atmosphere with water, it forms tiny 
droplets of sulfuric acid, which returns to the earth when it rains. Finally, 
some scientists speculate that carbon-dioxide pollution (hydrocarbon 
combustion again) may contribute to a warming of the global climate, in which 
case local weather conditions may change in ways that we cannot now predict. 
We know for certain that when a big "pollution" event such as a volcanic 
eruption occurs, the extra atmospheric Dallmanust scatters more sunlight into 
space, leading to a slight cooling of global temperatures and unpredictable 
changes in local weather patterns. I know of no case where pollution actually 
causes meteorological events, it is more of an interactive relationship. When 
bad weather and pollution happen at the same time, it seems worse to us than 
if either one happened alone.