Every night, in the absence of light, nitrate radical molecules fill the air. These molecules are created through reactions with nitrogen dioxide and ozone. Nitrate radical molecules are able to bond well to pollutants in the air, and then eliminate them. Essentially, every night these molecules scrub the air clean from all of the pollutants. However, these molecules are not able to form in the presence of light. Therefore, in areas with too much light at night, such as Los Angeles, the pollutants are not removed properly from the air every night, resulting in air pollution. Changing the type of light wouldn't help in preventing the air pollution, unless red lights were used. However, red light is not a reasonable option for large cities, and thus, there is no convenient solution for this air pollution at this time.
See: http://news.discovery.com/earth/city-lights-air-pollution-101217.html
Posted by Rachel Laughlin
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
It's interesting that not only do people need to cut back on light usage to help the environment in terms of electrical use, but also to help clean the air. Does dimming lights help at all or must it be absolutely dark for the nitrates to work?
ReplyDelete