Reporter: Well it's officially summer, and that means we're all heading outdoors for pool parties
and picnics. As you fire up the grill, you might be surprised
to know the air we breath outdoors each summer is actually getting cleaner
across the country. And here to tell us more about it, from NASA's Goddard
Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is NASA scientist
Anne Thompson. Thanks for joining us. Anne: Good morning, thank you.
Reporter: So as the summer heats up, we often report on bad air
quality, but what are these images really showing us about air quality
in our area? Anne: Well these images are taken from NASA's Aura
spacecraft. It started measurements just about ten
years ago. We've got a decadal anniversary coming up. What we're
measuring here is nitrogen dioxide, and the more red you see,
the higher the levels. And what's red is contributing to
bad air, bad air alerts in all of those cities.
So between 2005 and 2011,
we've seen an improvement. Then on average in the northeast US
is about a 40% improvement. Some cities
about 25% better, some closer to 50% better. Look how much
less angry red you see in the northeast.
What's really exciting for some people is if you're in sort of the
edge areas from some of the cities, for example
take a look along the coastal regions. Some of them no longer
have red. That's really good news for them. And
some of the areas that also monitor the health of their waterways,
places like the Delaware Bay and the Chesapeake Bay, that
NO2 is an ingredient in bad air and
bad water quality as well. So there's a lot of good news in this picture.
Reporter: And why is this happening? Anne: Well it's happening because we've made
steps, we've implemented measures over the last couple decades
principally in two areas. One is to clean up our
industries, especially those power plants. On the east coast,
a lot of the power plants in the Ohio River valley provide our electricity,
they've got scrubbers, they're emitting a lot less NO2.
In that sense, cleaner air to us to start with. And then,
automobiles are the other part of the mix. We're driving cleaner cars,
we're getting our emissions tested, we're putting out less of our own
NO2. So what's coming to us, what we're adding to the mix,
is why we're getting cleaner air.
Technological improvements. Reporter: What have we learned about
air quality around the world? Anne: What we've learned around the world
is that just as places like the US and western Europe
in particular have improved some of this air quality,
there are places that are rapidly developing, have industries
that are not yet controlled, or are moving from,
moving to automobiles very rapidly. Their
problems are just starting. But what we can do is keep an eye
on them and what they're reaching in our global
communication and our global technological industry. They're
getting this information from NASA to help them develop
their strategies to clean up their air, which they're all very eager to do.
Reporter: Why is NASA studying air quality? Anne: NASA
studies air quality because we have two missions: we look out, we look out
to the planets and beyond, and we look at our own very
dear home planet. We look at our own planet, this is the Aura
spacecraft that is responsible for these
NO2 pictures. But we also look at fires, we look at clouds,
we look at the health of our ice,
of volcanoes... all components of the Earth system are part of our mission
and we keep an eye on our planet. We put the data
together in ways that we can do with
models, like bringing in information about weather,
we can follow where the air comes from, we can see what are the
natural processes, what are the things that we're upsetting with
some of our pollution. And what regions are connected
to what regions. Sometimes it's a surprise.
Reporter: Well it's great to finally hear some good news about the environment,
where can we learn more? Anne: You can learn more by going to
NASA.gov/earthrightnow. Take a look at the images we've
shown. You can get the data, look at it for yourself, and look at
the, at the Earth from all these other satellites
as well. Reporter: Dr. Anne Thompson, thank you very much for joining us!
Anne: My pleasure, you're welcome.
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