Old Salts All Know Smog’s Origin

Re “Salty Air Plays Role in Smog, UCI Study Says,” April 14:

I was astounded, to say the least, to learn that if you mix sunlight and salt water spray with air, you get smog. Of course you know what this means.

The Environmental Protection Agency, Greenpeace and the Sierra Club will band together and demand that we move the Pacific Ocean.

I’ll bet the Meathead will come up with a 50-cent tax on surfers and fishermen to pay for it.

R.L. MARLEAU

Mission Viejo

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I find it interesting that UCI has done a study about salt air and its effects on our smog. Local pilots have known for years that our smog was caused by salt air and heat and the fact that our San Bernardino mountain range traps the pollutants in our basin.

Twenty-five years ago a flight instructor at ground school taught a wonderful course on Southland weather. I learned about salt air and smog back then and have spread the word ever since.

There is also an excellent book called “Southland Weather Handbook” by John H. Aldrich and Myra Meadows. Chapter 6 deals with smog and the fact that it is our sunshine that brings about the chemical change in our air.

This book states that “Smog is a term coined in 1905 by a Dr. Des Voux to signify a mixture of smoke and fog. In Southern California the word is applied to the presence of chemical combinations that irritate the eye.”

I hope UCI had fun rediscovering our natural smog phenomenon.

ELEANOR TODD

Newport Beach