The Environmental Journal of Southern Appalachia

Displaying items by tag: pandemic

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAGreat Smoky Mountains National Park Air Resource Specialist is seen at the Look Rock air quality research station.   Courtesy National Park Service

The lack of regional and local vehicle traffic during the pandemic greatly reduced measurable pollution in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

This is your Hellbender weekend read, and the first in an occasional Hellbender Press series about the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the natural world

Great Smoky Mountains National Park shut down for six weeks in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. Recorded emissions reductions during that period in part illustrate the role motor vehicles play in the park's vexing air-quality issues. The full cascade of effects from the pollution reductions are still being studied.

Hellbender Press interviewed park air quality specialist Jim Renfro about the marked reduction of carbon dioxide and other pollutants documented during the park closure during the pandemic, and the special scientific opportunities it presents.  He responded to the following questions via email.

Hellbender Press: You cited “several hundred tons" in pollutant reductions during an interview with WBIR of Knoxville (in 2020). What types of air pollutants does this figure include? 

Published in Air

Mar 12  noon–1 p.m. EST

Songbirds Changed Their Tune During the Pandemic
Elizabeth Derryberry, associate professor in the UT Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of Tennessee Science Forum

Zoom Meeting - Free and open to the public - RSVP

Dr. Derrberry’s study of white-crowned sparrow songs during lockdown received nationwide attention.

With noise pollution from traffic cut in half, white-crowned sparrows sang more softly, using tones more attractive to females.

After registering,

you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Published in Event Archive