Stories from The Allegheny Front archived under
air pollution
Turning Bikes into Smog-Sensing Machines
A citizen group in Pittsburgh is using cyclists—and some Home Depot ingenuity—to map some of the city's air pollution hotspots.
Your Environment Update for July 30, 2015
If the honeybeepocalypse happens tomorrow, is it time to panic? Not necessarily. Researchers think other species of bees could help fill the gap.
EPA Ordered to Relax Cross-State Air Pollution Rule
It’s back to the drawing board for the EPA in its efforts to prevent cross-state air pollution.
Pittsburgh Improves, But Still Among Worst for Air Pollution
This week the American Lung Association came out with their annual State of the Air Report. It ranks cities and grades counties across the country for air pollution. The Pittsburgh metro region still has a long way to go to meet national air quality standards.
Cleaning the Air One School Bus at a Time
Diesel pollution from school buses is bad for the kids on board, or anywhere nearby. But state and federal laws are starting to make some difference.
GASP: Pittsburgh Environmental Group's '60s Roots
The Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP) formed in 1969, at a time when the environment was becoming a mainstream concern for many of America’s cities.
AF Video: 'Thanks a lot, Soot!'
Soot is bad to breathe in. But for decades, scientists have been trying to figure out why. It turns out, soot lives a ‘secret life’ once released into the atmosphere. What happens to these particles in the air? And how does it affect our health? Filmmaker Josh Kurz’s video for The Allegheny Front explains.
Tracking the "Secret" Life of Soot
For a long time scientists have known that breathing in soot from vehicles and power plants is bad for us. But the soot itself might not be the problem—at least not entirely. Scientists have found that particles live a "secret life" once released into the atmosphere, picking up toxic gases and other hitchhikers before making their way into our lungs.
Study: Pittsburgh Air Among the Nation's Worst
A new report finds that the air quality in the Pittsburgh region is among the worst in the nation. The study blames vehicles, industry, and natural gas drilling for the high risk of cancer due to air pollution in southwestern Pennsylvania.
Portraits of Air: Pittsburghers Use Filters to Create Pollution Art
6aa8.jpg?itok=GfuN1MEs "Ben Weaver is among a group of Pittsburgh residents taking \"Portraits of Air\" by hanging air filters around their homes and workplaces. Photo: Jenelle Pifer")
If you could take a snapshot of all the seemingly invisible stuff floating in the air, what would it look like? That’s the question asked by a new art project in Pittsburgh called “Portraits of Air.”