Air Pollution: Donora and the
Clean Air Act
.
Follow the directions and links to discover the information you will need to answer the questions. Record
your answers on your answer sheet.
The Backstory...
Read the following article then answer the questions.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103359330
1. Describe the town Donora, PA (think about its geography, economy, and lifestyle)
2. It’s safe to assume that most people know the difference between clean air and polluted air. Why didn’t the
citizens of Donora protest or complain about the dirty air before?
3. Think about what you know about factories. Why do you think the owners of the factories didn’t shut them
down when they saw what was happening?
4. Think about the accounts of Charles Stacey. What do his statements say about the state of the town before
this incident?
The Science:
Read the following article on Smog and answer the questions.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/s/smog.htm
1. What is smog exactly? How does it form?
2. Why is smog a dangerous phenomenon?
3. What is the significance of geologic basins and areas surrounded by hills in relation smog?
(if you are not sure what a geological basin is look it up)
Watch the video and answer the question.
http://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/Contexts/Enviro-imprints/Sci-Media/Video/Temperature-inversion
4. Describe how a temperature inversion happens and then describe how the air or temperature inversion
contributed to the disaster in Donora.
Air Quality
Take a look at the Air Quality Index page and answer the following questions.
http://www.airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=aqibasics.aqi
1. How often do you think the average citizen pays attention to the Air Quality Index as compared to the
temperature each day?
2. If a person has severe asthma what level of air quality is cause for concern to them?
Now look at the Air Quality forecaster and answer the following.
http://www.airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.main
3. Look at the national map and find an area that is not in the green. What color is it in and what region of the
country is it in (Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, or West Coast)?
4. Click on Ohio and check on Cleveland’s forecast for today and tomorrow. Catalog the colors on your sheet.