As the Fukushima radiation hits the West Coast, we would do well to recall that Cascadia, The Pacific Northwest, is no stranger to the intercontinental pollution:
new study
With radioactive debris starting to wash up on the shores, and the Japanese burning radioactive materials instead of disposing of them, radioactive rain-outs will continue for some time … even on the Pacific Coast.
Looking at the body of scientific research examining the ways that smokestack emissions cross oceans to cause pollution problems halfway around the world, we can see how the pattern plays itself out. For example, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration states:
winds can carry Asian pollution into the atmosphere above North AmericaAsian pollution directly contributes to surface ozone pollution episodes in parts of the western United States
Well, duh, some of the air pollution problems in North America result from the pollution emitted by Asian coal plants and industrial facilities.
NOAA’s findings were not entirely new.
The Task Force on Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution found that as much as a quarter of ground level ozone pollution in the northern mid-latitudes arrives from the stratosphere. Downwind of eastern Asia (i.e. North America), researchers have documented that marine air can import ozone concentrations that exceed air quality standards. Scientists there have also shown that soot, dust, and mercury can travel from one continent to another.
The Northwest is no stranger to the intercontinental pollution. As Sightline has pointed out, sulfur compounds, soot, and other byproducts of Asian coal combustion are detectable on mountaintops in the western United States. Researchers have also linked ozone in the air above the United States to pollution from developing Asian countries that are burning fossil fuels.
Mercury is especially likely to travel across the Pacific Ocean. Oregon researchers estimate that as much as 18 percent of the mercury in Oregon’s Willamette River comes from overseas, increasingly China. Another study found that human-created pollution from Asia contributed to 14 percent of the mercury dropped on Mount Bachelor here in Central Oregon.
With ample documentation, we already know how the radiation will get here, and probably when. The only question is to what lengths the corporate media will go to to misinform and/or deny how much radiation will get here.