When I lived in Seoul, South Korea for six years, I could honestly say that it was years before I saw blue skies again. For the first few months, I incorrectly assumed that South Korea was cloudy every day. Well, it looks like tha Asian smog will soon waft into the United States and gone will be the days of clear blue skies.

The Los Angeles Times reports that, "winds carry Asian smog component to Western U.S., study finds. Experts say that baseline ozone, the mamount of gas not produced by local vehicles and industries, has increased in springtime months by 29% since 1984."

Environmental researchers claimed in a study released Wednesday that ozone from Asia is wafting across the Pacific through springtime winds and boosting the amount of smog-producing gas found in the skies above the Western United States.

The journal Nature published the study, which takes a look at the phenomenon that has puzzled scientists in the last decade. Thanks to more restrictive pollution controls, ground-level ozone dropped in U.S. cities, but it has increased in rural regions in the Western U.S., where there is minimal industry or vehicle traffic.

According to the LA Times, "the study, led by Owen R. Cooper, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Colorado, examined nearly 100,000 observations two to five miles above ground - in a region known as the free troposphere - gathered from ancient aircraft, ballons and ground-based lasers."

It discovered that baseline ozone - the maount of gas not produced by local automobilies and industries - has risen in springtime months by 29 percent since 1984.

To read the entire article from the Los Angeles Times, link here:

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