The first case study I chose was the air quality control that the United States first implemented in 1970 through enacting the Clean Air Act (CAA). I retrieved this case study through the Colby – Sustainable Development link that was provided on the course site, and the topic can be found here: http://bit.ly/1Q9JKWS. This case studies essentially focuses on the improvement of air quality across the contiguous United States, of which it was a major problem until the CAA was initiated. Through a few amendments of the act, the most prominent amendment in 1990, the reduction of hazardous air quality increased ten fold. For example, vehicles used to use gasoline that was lead based, which was extremely dangerous for human health. The underlying issue of this act was the overall cost; however, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stated that the cost of controlling air quality will far outweigh the result of the improvement of human health, such as the reduction for risk of cardiopulmonary symptoms among population.

My second case study that I looked up was/is the air pollution crisis ongoing in China, particularly in Beijing, China. I found the study from a well written article by the New York Times, and it can be found here: http://nyti.ms/1Nv4BRY. On an annual basis, the fatality rates from dangerous air quality in China is a staggering 1.6 million deaths. Given the lack of air quality standards in China, nearly one half of the Chinese population experiences air quality that is in the unhealthy range in the U.S. (Air Quality Index: http://bit.ly/1T2gqFk). Scientific research analyzed that Beijing was not the centroid of the pollution; rather, areas hundreds of miles away where energy production occurs, such as coal, results in the poor air quality. Measures are being taken to clean the air, and the Chinese government is now releasing the data to the public in efforts to clean the air. General public involvement will aid in the short term and long term improvements of air quality in China.

Living in State College, our air is very clean. Given our geospatial location between the I-95 corridor from Washington D.C. to Philadelphia to our east, and Pittsburgh to our west, very seldom do we have air quality above the moderate range. Upwind transport of air from various geographic locations is usually always clean, and the State College area is not a hub for releasing pollutants into the troposphere. Think about it. Our public transportation system uses buses that operate off natural gas, a cleaner source than unleaded gasoline or diesel fuel. And, the university has heavy involvement in environmental care and improvement. Back in 1948, Donora, Pennsylvania, had a catastrophic air quality disaster due to a stagnant air pattern that caused pollution from steel to set into the valley. Since the CAA, and more recently since 2010, the area has not had an unhealthy air quality day since. Air quality regulation in the U.S. has had significant impacts on making the air cleaner, particularly areas such as State College that are encased around mountain ranges.