Pollution
 

This post is informative only. No political comments or blame. I found it very surprising that Alaska is worse than California and some areas of the country I would not have even considered.

Most polluted cities in the US - Business Insider

I often wonder about things. This place gets dirtier outside faster than any place I can remember...however we spend more time outside too. There is dirt on the outside tables and you really should, could, would, wipe them off every couple of days. I admit I don't. Just when my conscience gets to me.

I agree this area is extremely dirty. You can wash windows every week if you are so inclined. We were in Fairbanks about 5 summers ago and didn’t notice any pollution. Makes you wonder.....

Yes exactly Fairbanks was a place I least expected.

Fairbanks Alaska experiences fine particle pollution (from wood burning stoves) and very clam winter air conditions, causing the air to not mix and the particles to remain suspended in the -40 to -60F temperatures. Over time the concentrations can cause bad "pollution" conditions (been there, lived that). Again, it is fine particles suspended in the air and not so much from CO or other common city pollutions that we may imagine or think of initially. the air is bad, but in other ways... but still bad due to climatological conditions.

Very interesting

Yep.

Having had the pleasure (pain? :oops:) of being in Fairbanks in the middle of winter, I can attest to the weirdness...of what they call 'Ice Fog.'

Here's a photo I found of it. :22yikes:

Wow, I was there once in June and it was so beautiful which is why I was so surprised. I never considered how the frigid temps could affect the air quality like this.

Here's a good article that explains it.

What makes Tanana Valley inversions so harsh | Science And Technology | newsminer.com


I know from the several trips I've made, that you want to cover your mouth when it's -30 or below...because your lungs hurt from sucking in such cold air. :(

Interesting article, might also explain why places like Utah and Colorado might make the list.

I don't ever plan to be anyplace that is -30.

+50 degrees is my low temp limit.....my second criteria? If there are no palm trees I know I am too far North!

Winter vs summer
 

We were in Fairbanks in the middle of June and nobody was burning wood in their stoves as it was unusually warm for that time of year. During the winter in Fairbanks, there probably is a big difference regarding pollution. Perhaps we were breathing pollution particles we couldn’t see but I have a sense that the pollution level is much more in the winter than in the summer when residents are not burning wood to stay warm. When we lived in Tennessee, a number of residents burned wood during the winter and there was likely a high level of pollution there too.

I would bet that the poor ranking of Fairbanks air quality...is based solely on wintertime conditions.

Having also been there in the summer a number of times, the air quality is quite nice...if you don't count mosquitoes the size of Cessna's! :oops:

I mean really, how in the heck can a mosquito survive winters that cold...then grow so damned big and hungry?! :mad:

Our oldest lived in Fairbanks for 7 1/2 years. As he said most do not realize how much pollution there is an Alaska.

For instance if you go into town to go shopping or want to go to the movies, and there is no place to plug your truck in, you leave it running. Sometimes for hours at a time or otherwise it will freeze up. When you look for a place to live plug in for auto is first on your list, even before a inside toilet..Wood fire is main heat.

There are many locals that instead of taking their garbage to the dump, it just gets thrown out the back door. And another bonus is if you do you take your trash in the back of your truck to the dump you have a 50% chance of a raven swooping in, while you were driving, picking up a trash bag and taking off with it.

A raven Is large enough to pick up your dog and take it with them. They almost lost their 11lb Puppy when a Raven picked it up and started flying away.

Ravens are sacred it is against the law to kill, them.

The mosquitoes are extremely large and can actually kill a person. He also lost two people to fog freeze when it came through their windshield and killed them. It’s against the law to drive during fog freeze, some just don’t listen.

Alaska is beautiful, but if you go outside the tourist trap, you May be shocked.

Such interesting information. I am learning very much.