People like to think of Middlesbrough as some smog-infested industrial wasteland – but we have so much beauty.
We also knew that there were a lot of innovative people out there working on air pollution-fighting projects or at least with some smog-killing ideas in mind.
On some nights, the smog is clearly visible above Thessaloniki, Greece's second-largest city, and in Athens, where particulate matter has been measured at three times the normal levels.
In addition to contributing to air toxicity and urban smog, some VOC emissions act as greenhouse gases (see below) and, in so doing, may be a cause of global warming.
And with China now waging a high-profile "war on pollution", cities hope a return to the era of the bicycle can help them clean up at least some of the smog.
With power plants required by the amendments to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide, which contributes to acid rain, and nitrous oxide, a heat-trapping gas and an ingredient of smog, some installed equipment known as scrubbers.
"I hear there's a party at some place called Smog Cutter," I told James.
So there will be little respite from the dense data smog, which some researchers fear may be poisonous.They raise three big worries.
