2005 Annual Performance & Progress Report: Air Quality in National Parks
United States. National Park Service. 2005. 2005 Annual Performance & Progress Report: Air Quality in National Parks
Introduction: 'The National Park Service strives to perpetuate the best possible are quality in units of the National Park System because are pollution affects ecological health, scenic views, human health, and visitor enjoyment even at relatively low levels. Progress toward this goal is measured by examining trends for key air quality indicators, including: - Ozone- which affects human health and native vegetation - Visibility- which affects how well and how far visitors can see, and - Atmospheric Deposition- which affects ecological health The NPS monitors one or more of these indicators in 68 park units, and there are sufficient data to assess trends in 50 parks. In general, we consider stable or improving air quality trends a sign of success. Other objectives include that parks (1) comply with the national ambient air quality standards established by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to protect human health and (2) show reasonable progress toward remedying existing visibility impairment as required by EPA's visibility protection regulations. For the 2005 Annual Performance Report, data collected between 1995-2004 were examined. As explained in more detail below, the NPS is exceeding air quality performance goals for 2005, with 68% of the reporting parks showing stable or improving air quality trends generally, 78% meeting national ambient air quality standards, and 100% meeting visibility goals. The target goals for 2005 were 64%, 75%, and 85% respectively.' Acadia National Park is included in the study, but only vague reference to generalized data in regards to trends are discussed; however, visibility is improving some, acid precipitation appears stable, and Ozone is degrading in air quality. For more specific information pertaining to the data used for this report see Annual Data Summary: 2004 Gaseous Pollutant Monitoring Program : Ozone, Sulfur Dioxide, Meteorological Observations. /STUDY LOCATIONS:/ /ACADIA NATIONAL PARK/MOUNT DESERT ISLAND/
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- United States. National Park Service
- Date of Issue
- 2005
- Units
- ACAD
- Keywords
- Acadia National Park, Air Quality, Air Temperature, Atmospheric Sciences, Monitoring, Mount Desert Island, Ozone (O3), Precipitation, Radiation, Relative Humidity, Solar Radiation, Weather, Wind