Posted by common sense, a resident of the Downtown North neighborhood, on Jan 16, 2013 at 6:47 pm

Air was noticeably brown and smelly today. Is anyone paying attention to these warnings?

CNN is whining about the air pollution in Beijing. They should come to Silicon Valley.

Posted by Think About It, a resident of the Duveneck/St. Francis neighborhood, on Jan 16, 2013 at 6:59 pm

The Air Quality Index from Redwood City registered as moderate, and low moderate at that. I don't think our problems even come close to Beijing, not to mention the Los Angeles basin, where I grew up.

It looks like Spare the Air days get declared for all counties when there are very few areas that are really polluted.

$500 if you get caught, though.

Posted by 100% bicycle commuter, a resident of Los Altos, on Jan 16, 2013 at 10:04 pm

@common sense: Fortunately, our air is very good compared with that of Beijing. And to be fair to Beijing, it looks like they're really trying hard to improve their air quality.

@Think About It: I could be wrong, but I think a StA day gets declared based not so much on current air quality (which we want to maintain as good) but rather based on local weather. Roughly speaking, I notice that any sequence of cold days during which the Santa Cruz Mountain skyline is washed out -- not fogged out, but washed out on an essentially cloudless day -- is likely to contain one or more StA days. The washed-out appearance comes from accumulating pollution that can't escape the valley because of an entrapping layer at altitude. So, roughly speaking, a combination of a washed-out skyline and measurements showing moderate to good air quality indicates that anti-pollution efforts are working.

Posted by common sense, a resident of the Downtown North neighborhood, on Jan 16, 2013 at 10:29 pm

Look at the 5 day air pollution forecast: Web Link

Most Bay Area cities will have unsafe air pollution for most of the next 5 days, unless people start doing something about it now.

Posted by Sharon, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Jan 16, 2013 at 10:31 pm

We can wave our arms all we want but

The facts are that the vast majority of the Bay Area heavy metal pollution and particularly mercury blows in from China

-which build another huge unfiltered coal power plant every 2 weeks.

There is not any toxic heavy metals like cadmium, lead, mercury etc in Palo Alto generated wood fire smoke

-just the pleasant smell of winter family home fires burning.

The local activists are barking up the wrong tree

Their saint- Al Gore-sold out to the Arab oil state for $ 100 million

Gross hypocrisy-but his right in the free market economy

Why are the enviro- activists so quiet as mice about Al Gores callous betrayal of them?

Posted by Think About It, a resident of the Duveneck/St. Francis neighborhood, on Jan 17, 2013 at 7:13 am

Thanks, 100%, for the web link. Looks like our area and south is only mildly affected by current conditions. The north part seems to have more problems. The Spare the Air argument that pollution MAY move all over the area seems a bit weak, given that still air is part of the problem. Could it be that the refineries up there are part of the problem, but too powerful politically to be part of the solution?

Sharon, I know people with asthma who are seriously affected by heavy wood smoke--it's not at all a pleasant smell to them. However, I just don't think our air on the peninsula is even close to that point.

As for Al Gore, what does he have to do with wood smoke? Anyway, he has done a lot of good, but the media company he was a part of didn't do well. His group sold to another media group, not the "the" Arab oil state. Hardly a "callous betrayal."

Posted by More Midtown Lies from u-know-who, a resident of Los Altos, on Jan 17, 2013 at 11:53 am

Sharon makes spurious, unsubstantiated claims all the time: "the vast majority of the Bay Area heavy metal pollution and particularly mercury blows in from China"

Sharon then falsely claims that asthmatics have nothing to fear from her selfish burning of wood without using a fireplace insert or converters "just the pleasant smell of winter family home fires burning."

NEVER, EVER believe what Sharon writes, without seriously doing some basic research!!! In this case she is selfishly lying about the health of kids in our community.

NEVER believe Sharon! (even the claims about Finland and dogs.) Demand links and substantiation!

Reality and science, as usual, disagree with Sharon. Among those? The CDC. Here is the link to the CDC on Asthma and California: Web Link

1 in 11 children have asthma. 1 in 12 adults have asthma. Black children are twice as likely to have asthma. Blacks are 2-3 times more likely to die from asthma. (data 2009) Web Link

Sharon lies about fireplace dangers: "Smoke From Burning Wood --- Smoke from burning wood or other plants is made up of a mix of harmful gases and small particles. Breathing in too much of this smoke can cause an asthma attack."

Fireplaces release particulate matter that can kill asthmatics! Hundreds of thousands of emergency room visits per year by asthmatics in 2009.

Fireplaces are also the WORST way to heat your home (without a proper insert.) The heat draws up the chimney, creating a vacuum in the house which draws air in through any avenue (cracks, vents, etc..) directly from outside. The warm glow around the fire creates colder conditions in the rest of the house.

If Sharon can supposedly spend thousands on a "decent meal" at Baume for her and her alleged dogs, she can afford a fireplace insert that captures some of the particulate matter, and is better for the environment.

And doesn't HARM CHILDREN.

More females are effected, Sharon.

"The number of people diagnosed with asthma grew by 4.3 million from 2001 to 2009. From 2001 through 2009 asthma rates rose the most among black children, almost a 50% increase. Asthma was linked to 3,447 deaths (about 9 per day) in 2007. Asthma costs in the US grew from about $53 billion in 2002 to about $56 billion in 2007, about a 6% increase."

Sharon's complete lack of knowledge and selfish attitude towards her community's health demands that you either ignore everything she posts, or you do a quick search and REFUTE SHARON'S FALSEHOODS.

Do not burn wood on spare the air days. Please limit it during cold weather (yes, of course that's when we all like it!) Please consider an appropriate fireplace insert. And always ignore or directly refute u-know-who's falsehoods.

thanks for listening....

;-)