Did you ever stop to consider this as a form of air pollution?

Question

This is from an article on Yahoo here but something I've wondered about for a long time because when I go for walks in winter (in the city) I have to turn back becasue I can't breathe because of the number of people who have fireplaces going.

My lungs obviously knew what was good for them.

Here's a clip from the article. More from the article below.

Thoughts??

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""It's important to realize that air pollution is not just a summer and urban problem, it's a winter and rural problem as well," Samis said. "In fact, during winter months, wood-burning stoves and fire places can be sources of dangerous air pollution, particularly in rural areas."

The survey found wood-burning stoves and fireplaces are responsible for 28 per cent of fine particulate matter pollution in Canada and that 44 per cent of those living in communities of less than 10,000 residents have a wood stove, pellet stove or fireplace; of those 70 per cent use it daily or almost daily

Answer 1

I thought about it before, but what can ya do...Keep a wet sponge over yer chimney...?...LOL

Answer 2

This makes whenever we go for walks the smell just chokes you.  It's the worst smell ever,  I don't think people realize just how bad it is.  I have asthma and this usually triggers an asthma attack.  We have replaced a wood stove to gas..it's just as beautiful but without the smell.

Answer 3

Good job. We have to have a big picture change to fix our systems and this is a start. Today here is what we know:  many of mankind’s advancements cause earth surface to warm, destroy the ozone layer, kill off endanger species, heat cities, and in some way cause more destruction.  Blacktop (roads and parking lots), buildings, air pollution (causes lung and other diseases), deforestation, duststorms (which increase hurricanes and cyclones and cause lung diseases), fires (cause pollution, mud slides, and deforestation), refrigerants (like CFC's), solvents (including benzene destroy the ozone layer raising skin cancer rates) and plastics; cars, airplanes, ships and most electricity production (causes pollution including raised CO2 levels) are human problems we need to fix to keep life on earth sustainable! The federal government needs to adopt a pollution surcharge to balance the field and advance new technologies. We must pay the real price of oil (petrochemicals) including global warming, cleanup and for health effects. But with that we must understand we have never seen what is now happening before. CO2 has never lead to temperature change, but temperature change has led to increases in CO2. The models have to be made as we go along with little evidence! The result is:  change is on the way, we just do not know what changes. But again adding a small amount of CO2 to the atmosphere enlarges the earths sun collection causing warming; increase water in the atmosphere and they form clouds cooling earth but causing flooding. Even natural events are warming earth and causing destruction. The sun has an increased magnetic field causing increases in earthquakes (more destruction), volcanoes (wow, great destruction), and sun spots. Lighting produces ozone near the surface (raising air pollution levels). But humans have destroyed half of the wetlands, cut down nearly half of the rain forest, and advance on the earths grasslands while advancing desertification which increases duststorms. The USA Mayor's have taken a stand and I believe are on the right track, we can have control and can have economic growth. With the peak of oil in the 1970’s, the peak of ocean fishing in the 1980’s, humans must stop procrastinating and make real changes to keep earth sustainable including in the energy debate, finance and regulation. The sun is available to produce energy, bring light to buildings and makes most of human’s fresh water. Composting is the answer to desertification. New dams are the answer to fresh water storage, energy and cooling earth by evaporation, we need many small ones all over (California needs 100 by 2012 and has not even started).

President Bush has made a choice of energy (ethanol) over food and feeding the starving people around the world; this is a choice China has rejected.

That is why I founded CoolingEarth.org, a geoengineering web sight where you can learn more about earth, the atmosphere, and how to sustain life on earth’s surface.