Commentary on Earth Day and the Relationship to Historical Developments in Air Pollution Control and Scientific Next Steps

Since 1970 we have celebrated Earth Day to commemorate the start of themodern environmental movement. Scientists contributed to technology development whichcreated pollution in thefirst place but also contributed to significant advances in data anddiscoveries to abate that pollution. I focus here on the causes of air pollution and thecontributions of Arie Jan Haagen-Smit to determine the cause of smog. His efforts werefollowed by those of Houdry, Keith, Mooney, and many others to invent technologyincluding the three-way catalytic converter in use at scale today to abate air pollution. Thesediscoveries continue, and I discuss future areas of air pollution in need of new developmentincluding methane remediation.

Automated summary

Since 1970, Earth Day has been celebrated annually to commemorate the start of the modern environmental movement. Scientists have made contributions to technology development, which has been a source of pollution but also led to significant progress in pollution reduction. This article focuses on the causes of air pollution and the discoveries made by Arie Jan Haagen-Smit to understand the cause of smog. His work was followed by other scientists who invented technologies, such as the three-way catalytic converter, to mitigate air pollution. Ongoing research in this field includes exploring new developments in methane remediation.