Abstract:
:Air pollution indices and other environmental quality indicators have often been subjects of debate. This article presents a case study of the creation and criticism of an air pollution index in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Long known for its industrial production and the resulting pollution, Pittsburgh was home to engineers, scientists, institutions and corporations that developed new air pollution monitoring technologies in the years after World War II. These newly automated instruments were used as a part of a computerized monitoring network built in the late 1960s by the Allegheny County Health Department. County engineers created a daily air pollution index to summarize the information from the network, leading to public debates over the intent, meaning, and representation of air quality data. This case study serves to illustrate the inherent complexity of creating accessible, understandable, and uniformly acceptable indices of environmental quality. It also emphasizes the importance of understanding the social and political context in which data is collected, organized, and interpreted.
journal_name
Environ Monit Assessjournal_title
Environmental monitoring and assessmentauthors
Longhurst Jdoi
10.1007/s10661-005-0758-xsubject
Has Abstractpub_date
2005-07-01 00:00:00pages
27-42issue
1-3eissn
0167-6369issn
1573-2959journal_volume
106pub_type
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journal_title:Environmental monitoring and assessment
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journal_title:Environmental monitoring and assessment
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journal_title:Environmental monitoring and assessment
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journal_title:Environmental monitoring and assessment
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journal_title:Environmental monitoring and assessment
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