Environmental Protection Agency: Basic Information about Visibility
Every year there are over 280 million visitors to our nation’s most treasured parks and wilderness areas.
Unfortunately, many visitors aren’t able to see the spectacular vistas they expect. During much of the year a veil of white or brown haze hangs in the air blurring the view. Most of this haze is not natural. It is air pollution, carried by the wind often many hundreds of miles from where it originated.
In our nation’s scenic areas, the visual range has been substantially reduced by air pollution. In eastern parks, average visual range has decreased from 90 miles to 15-25 miles. In the West, visual range has decreased from 140 miles to 35-90 miles.
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Every year there are over 280 million visitors to our nation’s most treasured parks and wilderness areas.
Unfortunately, many visitors aren’t able to see the spectacular vistas they expect. During much of the year a veil of white or brown haze hangs in the air blurring the view. Most of this haze is not natural. It is air pollution, carried by the wind often many hundreds of miles from where it originated.
In our nation’s scenic areas, the visual range has been substantially reduced by air pollution. In eastern parks, average visual range has decreased from 90 miles to 15-25 miles. In the West, visual range has decreased from 140 miles to 35-90 miles.