Jul 21, 2008 9:22 pm US/Eastern
Air Pollution Damaging New England Forests
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
So far this season, 16 days have been tagged for bad air quality. But according to a new study just released by
The Nature Conservancy, air pollution isn't just a concern for humans. Our environment suffers too.
"Just like we breathe in air through our mouth and lungs, these plants take in air through their leaves and take in the pollution just as we do," said Andy Finton of The Nature Conservancy.
Finton says ozone has cut down on forest growth.
"The productivity of northeastern forests has been shown to be decreased by ozone by up to and greater than 10 percent," he said.
That's just one new finding on the impact of air pollution on New England, published in a report just released by The Nature Conservancy called "
Threats From Above."
"This study has shown that air pollution affects more ecosystems than we ever thought before and more severely than we thought," said Finton.
And with forested land covering 60 percent of the state our trees are telling a story.
"Recently there's been tremendous die-off of oak forests in southeastern Massachusetts," he said.
The victims of many stresses including acid rain, a by product of air pollution.
"The oak forests are very susceptible to the acid component of pollution," said Finton. "Because these forests are already very acidic they don't have much leeway in getting more acidic."
Mercury emissions from power plants are also finding their way into local ecosystems, cutting a path through the soil into the water.
"We've got hot spots of mercury, especially in these white mountains even north central Massachusetts has a real hot spot of mercury," Finton told WBZ.
Namely the Merrimack River, tagged for high levels of mercury traced back to air pollution.
"By reducing the effects of air pollution we will have vital systems for generations to come," Finton said.
Scientists hope that this new report will help inform environmental policy so that air quality can improve for all of us. If you would like to read the full report, click
here.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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