6/30: Haze pollution
 

[IMG]pictures/newark1.jpg[/IMG]

Look closely at these two images and you see a difference. In the top image, you can see the NYC skyline in the background. In the bottom image, you can't. The city is gone!

These two shots were taken from a webcam in Newark, seven miles from that skyline, and they show the effect of haze.

Haze is a type of air pollution. Turns out that sulfur in fuels is released into the air as little particles. These particles then absorb water vapor and - this is the trick - grow to about the same size as the wavelength of visible light. So they scatter light into white murkiness, and that light doesn't reach your eyes. Thus, the city disappears.

All that noted, air pollution is much better today than it was 30 years ago.

For a similar but more close up shot.. stand on the Bay Ridge (Brooklyn) pier (forget exact ave.).. you know the newly rebuilt one.. and look in the direction of Manhattan.

:(

I'm sorry, when I saw that this was taken in Newark, it immediately lost all credibility.

We drive through Newark to get to NYC, because my mother is too reluctant to take anything but the turnpikes. There were times when we had to have our lights on because of all the stuff floating around there.

~Mike

Another good image would be to look at the Philadelphia skyline from Cottman and I-95. In the morning, it looks pristine...but look at it at 2 in the afternoon and it's another story.

Another one of the very few nice things about Washington, DC--very little smog.

There's no smog in DC, but there's plenty of haze. "Hazy, hot, and humid" is standard summer weather there.

You can see it on a hot day out my way pretty easily -- there's several small ridges around, and they disappear into the haze. If I can't see the ridge between 202 and 30 when I go in to work, I know it's going to be viciously hot and humid!

In 20 years ill sit back and laugh while all those american SUV driver hack out thier lungs. Pity the rest of you will be too....
Someone considered organsing a cityiwde surgical-mask day, kinda get the point accross, everyone wearings those. Better yet clean them all out at the end of the day, and pour all the crap into open windows on SUVs!!!!!

One for Chicago
 

If you drive north on I-55, going towards Chicago, you can see what kind of a day it's going to be by just looking at the downtown skyline. On clear cool days, I can see Sears Tower all the way from the suburban town of Darien. In the most haze fogged day, I can't see the tower until I get past Cicero avenue on I-55 and even then it's a dim ghost.

-Cyc

Re: 6/30: Haze pollution
 

Nationwide, that's true. There's a lot of local variation, though. LA, for example, is much better. Fast-growing cities like Las Vegas may be much worse. Driving into Vegas from the south, as you crest a range of low hills, you can see the city spread out below in the valley, half-obscured by a thick haze of pink smog. It's really pretty appalling. The Vegas metroropolitan area is, I believe, the fastest growing area in the nation. But they're really paying a price for that growth.

Washington D.C., as someone else noted, may be relatively smog-free. But that's because the growth rate is nil, or even negative, and there is little industry; the business of D.C. is government. Not everywhere can be like that.

Philadelphia, according to the last census, is in serious negative growth. Wonder how our pollution is doing?

Cyc, that is one of my favorite skyline shots...rolling into Chicago on 55...I may have some shots I took from that vantage point...will have to dig around.

I miss Chicago :(

Russotto, as you pointed out, DC is indeed hot, hazy, and humid. (Except for last year...it was amazingly pleasant all summer...mid 80s, low humidity...ah!) The fact that Washington, DC has very little industry is a boost to that city's relative cleanliness (at least on Capitol Hill and in the Northwest).

Now, define negative growth, because that is a bit confusing to me...considering that we only lost 68,000 people overall from 1990-2000, well WELL below the original estimates. Is this the slow down or lack of growth in the region as a whole?

Indeed. DC has some of the most remarkable haze anywhere. Summer of 99, it was so bad I couldn't see across 200yds of river. More remarkable is that you claim DC has very little industry to produce this pollution, when it is clearly obvious the primary industry of the area is HOT AIR.

You mean the weather, or the politicians? ;)

I do remember the summer of '99...yep, that was a mess...people in Maryland tattling on each other over water restrictions...heh.

Wouldn't know about the water restrictions. During my tenure at a certain govt funded prison^H^H^H^H^H^H college there in Maryland, we ran the showers on cold to cool the room down. I'm a bastard, aren't i?

And here was me htinking DC porduced more SHIT than the rest of the country put together...

What do you miss most about Chicago? The food? The people? Wrigley Field?

-Cyc

Make no mistake Jag, Washington, DC is the unwiped a**hole of America (although it is running neck and neck with the state of New Jersey).

You would think that Washington, DC would be the nation's finest city, seeing as it is the capital of the free world. The truth is, Washington, DC has its nice parts. But the majority of the city is run-down, particularly the SE section of the city. NW DC and Capitol Hill are nice, but the cost of living there is astronomical. Not to mention, there are a large number of circles, which make driving a nightmarish hell.

Used to live in Newark
 

Hope this photographer doesn't leave his camera in his car too long or it will be last time he sees that shiny SLR. I had my window smashed just because I had a hook for a radar detector on my windshield. I refuse to even visit that filthy city anymore. It is a shame too because Newark had a lot of potential at one point in its history.

To be honest, it's a bit of everything.

I'm not from Chicago (originally from St. Louis), but my ex-fiance used to live in the Ukrainian Village (Western & Chicago Aves.). I spent a lot of time up there in 1998 and part of 1999, and really got to know the city...to the point that I had planned (on two occasions) to move there. I miss ordering the $5 burrito from Si Senor Tacos on S. Cicero Ave. I miss riding the Red Line through N. Chicago. I miss driving along Sheridan Rd. and looking out at Lake Michigan. I miss looking up at the Sears Tower while in front of it and being awed. *can't remember the name of the breakfast joint at S. California and 71st St.* Damn, that was good too. And of course, all the museums.

Chicago is a truly amazing city, much like Philadelphia. There really isn't a hell of a lot of difference between the two, with the exceptions of population (Chicago is 2x bigger) and the transit system (CTA kicks all possible ass, particularly on SEPTA). But there is just something about Chicago...I don't know if it is the impression burned on me as a wide-eyed 16-year old or what.

Chicagoscapes
 

Actually Cyc (and anyone else), you might be interested in my <A HREF="http://syc75.tripod.com/chicago.html">Chicagoscapes</a> photo gallery on my website.

Re: Chicagoscapes
 

Syc,

Thanks for showing me your Chicago pics. Definitely the good stuff. =). Have you gone up on the Observation Deck on Sears Tower? Great views there from the Tallest Building In The World with lots of good Kodak Moments (architectural differences aside, Sears Tower is the REAL building, unlike the "spires" at Petronas Towers in Malyasia).

And nothing beats summer in Chicago than a good baseball game at Wrigley Field and then the annual Consumption of Mass Quantities Festival, formally known as the Taste of Chicago. Oh yeah, throughout my childhood, I often went to the Museum of Science and Industry. It's still my favorite museum. I just love that huge mini-train town they have, and the OmniMax theatre, and the U-505, and the mine shaft and I could go on and on.

You probably know this, just a few blocks east of the Museum of Science and Industry lies the eminent University of Chicago. That's where I got my education from pre-school to 8th grade at Laboratory Schools. The U of C has a good sculpture next to "The Reg" (U of C's monstrous library), titled "Nuclear" marking the spot where mankind harnessed the power of the atom. A good photo op. =)

And I can't forget the best pizza restaurant in Chicago (and all of North America), Lou Malnati's Pizzeria, home of the best old style Chicago Deep Dish Pizza. I tell you, you haven't had real pizza until you taste this.

Oh yeah, my favorite Chicago movie? I have two: "Ferris Bueller's Day off" and "The Fugitive". =P

-Cyc

Re: Re: Chicagoscapes
 

Cyc,
My wife's Great Uncle was one of the men there that day. I've seen pictures of him in front of the pile:)

Re: Re: Chicagoscapes
 

Nope...never actually BEEN in the Sears Tower. Went to the Hancock Deck in 1992...it was a bit of a cloudy night, which would have ruined the view from the Sears (or so I've heard). Great view from the Hancock Tower though.

What if the Wacker Drive building goes through? 2000 feet??? Yikes!

(We were in the elevator going up to the 95th floor at the Hancock Tower, when I noticed a security camera in there. Being an obnoxious 16-year old, I yelled, "HI!!!" A second later, a voice replies, "Hi there. Have a great time on the deck!" Apparently, it was a security guard in the control room. Needless to say, I almost fainted.)

Never seen the Cubs at Wrigley, although I saw the Sox at Comiskey that same week. Nice stadium, although at the time, the view of the Robert Jones Homes wasn't so pleasant.

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You probably know this, just a few blocks east of the Museum of Science and Industry lies the eminent University of Chicago.

I always knew where it was, but I never got a chance to visit UC (or Jackson Park for that matter). I know that the school is one of the best, but I've also heard cool things about the neighborhood over there.

There is a sign at S. Cicero and 67th, right across from the Hotel Complex. It has a nuke with a red cross-out around it and the words: Chicago, a nuclear-free city. I have a picture of it somewhere that I'll put up in IOTD one of these days.

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And I can't forget the best pizza restaurant in Chicago (and all of North America), Lou Malnati's Pizzeria, home of the best old style Chicago Deep Dish Pizza. I tell you, you haven't had real pizza until you taste this.

I dunno Cyc...the original Pizzeria Uno makes a killer pizza too. (Not that the Pizzeria Uno chain is bad, because it's quite good. But there's something about the original one on Wabash and Ontario.)

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Oh yeah, my favorite Chicago movie? I have two: "Ferris Bueller's Day off" and "The Fugitive". =P

How could you NOT dig Ferris Bueller? One of my all-time faves.

I've been to two concerts while in Chicago: The Reverend Horton Heat at the Riviera and Depeche Mode at the Horizon (now Allstate Arena...blecch!)...both in 1998. The Riviera was a cool little joint, although I believe the original venue was supposed to be the Aragon. Now THAT would have been sweet. The Horizon wasn't bad...decent acoustics given that it's an indoor venue.