Spider Distorts Air Quality Readings in Canada

Last month, the residents of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, were put into a state of alert when the air quality health index reached heights of 10+, signifying very high risk levels of pollution in the air. Wildfires in British Columbia and the northern states of the USA in the preceding days and weeks had caused smoke to waft into Alberta and it was such contamination that was thought to be the cause of the heightened air quality health index.

However, it later emerged that the alarmingly high readings were not caused by smog at all – but rather a wayward spider which had crept into the instrumentation. The creepy-crawly had made a nest for itself inside the sensor at one of the three monitoring stations used in Calgary, causing it to give out an anomalistic reading.

Concern Abated by Errant Spider

Environment Canada had initially warned that people should avoid strenuous activities outdoors – especially high risk groups, such as the elderly or the very young. A ban on recreational fires and other wood-burning devices was put into place to avoid contributing to the amassing smoke, while children’s day camps were moved indoors. Nevertheless, the annual fireworks festival, Globalfest, went ahead as planned and was exempt from the ban.

However, it emerged days later that the erroneous reading was not due to smoke or smog, but rather a spider. “This is one of those things that you never, ever expect to happen,” explained Mandeep Dhaliwal, the air quality programme manager at the Calgary Region Airshed Zone (CRAZ). “So that threw off the numbers for today's prediction… We're still having trouble getting the spider out,” he added.

Instead of a 10+ very high risk reading, the actual air quality health index should have been 4. This number represents a moderate health risk, which is to say that the potential dangers of the smoke from the wildfires shouldn’t be ignored… but shouldn’t be exaggerated, either.

Air Quality a Growing Concern

Canada isn’t the only part of the world facing air quality issues. Recently, the subject has become more and more topical in the UK, as well. The recent Air Quality and Emissions (AQE) Show 2015 which took place in April was perfectly timed to drive public awareness of the important issue. Taking place just after the air pollution ruling by the Supreme Court and just before the General Election, AQE was positioned to maximise coverage of this ever-mounting concern.

There are a number of measures which can be taken to curbing our emissions and cleaning up Britain’s (and the world’s) air supply. Curbing congestion, reducing traffic, switching to sustainable public transport and weening ourselves off the debilitating fossil fuels upon which we currently depend are just some of the solutions available. The article Improving Air Quality and Reducing Transport-Related Pollution looks in more detail at two particular alternative fuel sources and discusses their various merits.