How’s the View?
How well can you see Mt. Leconte today?
Compare your view with the photo above, taken when visibility was exceptional.
All to often haze mars the view here in the Smokies. Some haze in natural and has always been here, but most of the haze today results from air pollution. Airport records show that in the last half of the 20th century visibility in the region decreased by 40 percent in winter and 80 percent in summer.
The primary polutatnts that cause haze here are tiny sulfate particles, which result from the burning of coal-generating electricity power plants.
What will this view be like for future generations?
We don’t know, but we can all help by conserving electricity, carpooling, recycling, and supporting policies that support clean air.
[picture looking toward Mt/ Leconte]
The scene from here on a typical hazy day. Visual range (the distance it is possible to see) was 25 miles.
Mt. LeConte is visible, but colors have faded and details are gone. Haze not only impacts how far you can see, but how clearly, too.