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Photographer: Stanley and Terrie Howard
Taken: June 18, 2011
Caption: Northern View
Additional Description: People come to Clingmans Dome to experience the 360-degree view, but how does the view today compare to centuries ago? We really don't know, but we do know that haze, largely caused by air pollution, can greatly diminish your view.

Records show that during the last half of the 20th century the average distance it is possible to see decreased by about 40 percent in winter and 80 percent in summer.

For details about how air pollution impacts the Smokies-and about how you can help protect future air quality-ask at a visitor center.

On a typical hazy day (left), views can be disappointing. Distant features, like Pigeon Forge, are completely lost from view.

Air pollution in the Smoky Mountains (Map, right) comes mostly from the northwest and southwest, and sometimes from the east. Pollutants arrive from both local and distant sources. Weather patterns dictate how sources change over time.
Submitted: June 27, 2011, by Stanley and Terrie Howard of Greer, South Carolina.
Database Locator Identification Number: p159059
File Size: 1.091 Megabytes

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