Excellent article about a California author and his new book about the air in our state.
Cal-AIR-fornia
Feel lucky? Go ahead and take a deep breath
By David Watts Barton - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Wednesday, August 1, 2007
They say fish don't notice the water they're swimming in. But we humans don't have the same ignorance-is-bliss option when it comes to the air we swim in every minute of our lives.
Drive down from the foothills or back from the Bay Area, and that dense blanket of smog that hangs in our air is undeniable. And it's never more apparent than during the hot days of summer, when inversions keep the pollution close to the ground, where we breathe it.
It's summer, and while there's fun in the air, there's a whole lotta other stuff, too. Autos spew exhaust; tractors kick up huge clouds of dust that can travel for miles; farmers burn orchard and vineyard waste; campers build campfires; cabin dwellers in the mountains burn wood in fireplaces. You may have noticed that one fireplace in a small mountain valley can fill the place with smoke.
Lately, air quality in our area has been the subject of considerable conflict -- and the byproduct of tragedy. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his staff went head-to-head with members of the state Air Resources Board over what some said was the administration's meddling with the board's work; the people who lobby for the fireplace industry are up in arms about a proposed "no-burn days" rule by the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District; and folks in South Lake Tahoe got a distressing taste of bad air during the disastrous Angora fire.
David Carle has been looking at the three major elements that affect life in California: air, fire and water. He started with "Introduction to Water in California" in 2004 and will publish "Introduction to Fire in California" in 2008.
But these days, he's talking about his second book, "Introduction to Air in California" (University of California Press, $16.95, 244 pages), which was published in 2006 and just came out in paperback. In it, he explains what air is, how it moves, and the specific features and problems in each of the 15 "air basins" that comprise California.
Carle, a former California State Parks ranger (including at the Auburn State Recreation Area and the State Indian Museum in Sacramento), also taught biology at Cerro Coso Community College in Mammoth Lakes. These days, he's a full-time writer, and he took time to talk about his books from his home in Lee Vining, on the eastern slope of the Sierra, not far from Mono Lake.
