Fresh Loaf

Gather round, all Atlantans, and breathe through a handkerchief for the rest of the day. The Clean Air Campaign has issued a Code Orange Smog Alert — meaning that the air quality in the region today is unhealthy for such sensitive segments of the population as asthmatics, the elderly and people with heart or lung disease. Those groups should limit outdoor exercise or exertion to the early morning hours and late evening.

It’s always about the people. Won’t anyone think of the bees!?! In the meantime, think about using other ways to travel to help improve the region’s air quality. The campaign says that if one person opted not to drive one day a week for every week in the year, he or she would reduce the amount of pollutants emitted into the air by more than 2,080 pounds.

(Graphic courtesy of the Department of Homeland Security)

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Air pollution doesn’t just add to our region’s reputation as a smog-laden Mecca. It might even play a role in why honeybees — vital vectors in how we get our food — are dying off at a dizzying rate.

The Washington Post reports on a study that found the scents flowers emit — which are broken down when they come into contact with smog and ground-level ozone — are now traveling shorter distances. Air pollution, the report says, can eliminate 90 percent of a flower’s aroma, and may be contributing to a phenomenon called “colony collapse disorder” that’s become increasingly worse since 2006.

Our sting-happy friends can’t pick up on the scent, lose a food source and their populations subsequently dwindle. That tosses a wrench in the pollination process.

Metro Atlanta, you may recall, recently ranked 6th on the American Lung Association’s list of most-polluted cities.

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