Remember when you could see the mountains from the freeway in Denver?

Last week, I was driving the crew to a job and the view of the Front Range was crystal clear, just like it was most days when I was a kid. Three years ago, during that bad fire season, the whole city was in a brown haze for weeks and you couldn't see a thing. It hit me that the clear days are coming back more often now, and I think it's because of the push for cleaner cars and energy. Anyone else notice a change in their own city's air over the last few years?

3 comments

3 Comments

michael8802mo ago

Honestly, I just don't buy that it's all down to policy changes. Weather patterns shift year to year. We had a wet spring, which keeps the dust down and helps with fire risk. A few clear days feel good, but it's a tiny sample size. I remember clear stretches in the middle of past bad years too. It seems like we're quick to credit regulations when it might just be normal variation.

faith_perez2mo ago

Wait, you remember clear stretches during the worst fire years? How is that even possible, @michael880? My brain just can't picture a blue sky in the middle of all that smoke.

pat36011d ago

Yeah that's a fair point actually. I used to be one of those people who'd immediately credit the new policies every time the air looked cleaner. But you're right about the wet spring, that's a huge factor we kinda gloss over. My brother works in forestry and he's been saying the same thing, weather patterns are just too variable to pin a few good weeks on anything permanent. I guess I got caught up in wanting to believe the fixes were working right away.