In addition to real air quality concerns, ozone buildup this winter will likely mean a year of EPA regulatory exceedances that come with real consequences. Bingham Research Center Director Dr. Seth Lyman reported on Monday that even with heavy snowfall over the weekend, ozone exceeded the EPA standard at Dinosaur National Monument on Sunday, as well as at other research sites. Researchers now suspect that inversion conditions will be more stubborn under the conditions. “Even a lot of the south-facing slopes are snow-covered, which is very unusual,” shares Dr. Lyman. “We should continue to expect rapid build-up of ozone day-upon-day during inversion episodes, and we can expect it to get more rapid as sunlight increases later in the winter. I worry that we will see a lot of exceedance days between now and snowmelt.” So what can be done? Dr. Lyman urges emissions reductions in every way possible. “We can expect ozone to start building up again as soon as storms pass, and for some storms, like this one, to do a bad job at clearing things out…Near-continuous emissions reductions are what is going to be needed for the next six weeks or so.”
