Monday, May 26
The Bolder Boulder
Memorial Day is a big day for The Melamed family because of the Bolder Boulder, a 10K running race in Boulder. The race started 30 years ago and my mom ran in the first Bolder Boulder and has run in every single one since. She is a Bolder Boulder Boldest!! I used to run in the Bolder Boulder myself since I was in third grade but when bike racing took priority, I began to crew for my mom and anyone else in the family who was running. This Memorial Day though, I am in Mexico City at work. I am missing everything there is to miss about the Bolder Boulder. I am especially missing one of my favorite parts, the Air Force fly over and sky divers at Folsom field. Anyway, to all of you running or participating in the Bolder Boulder in some way, I am thinking about you from Mexico City.
Sunday, May 25
Guess What?
I have 2 pear trees outside my apartment and the first pear fell from the tree today. How exciting is that? I've never had a fruit true in my yard!
Wednesday, May 21
Let's See, What Have I Been Up To?
A few Friday's ago Ivan, Carolina, Sarai, Wolfgang, and I spent our lunch eating all you can eat hard tacos and pazole. Included in the all you can eat is a beer of your choice and a bottle of tequila for the table. Returning to work after such a meal was, well, impossible. We just all hung out instead.
Last weekend I went to Los Dinamos with my friend Victor. I seem to have explored the city more than my friends that are from here. So I get to be the tour guide. After going for an hour long hike, Victor and I enjoyed fresh trout, tacos, soup, beers, and cafe con leche. Mmmmmmm
On Sunday I participated in yet another mtn bike race and WON!!! But this time I had competition. Ok, it was only one other person but I still won. I did manage to crash on a pretty technical decent and I have a nice big bruise on my right butt cheek. I have no pics from the race and I thought posting a photo of my bruise was probably not appropriate.
All this week I have been in a workshop with some German colleagues. We definitely talked about some interesting science and health issues as they relate to Mexico City air pollution. But the best part of the workshop is that is was held at a conference room in UNAM's botanical gardens. I think these gardens are one of the hidden treasures in Mexico City.
Next big adventures on my list are that my bro is coming in a couple weeks and we will be exploring Mexico together. Then I will be heading to Colorado at the end of June to party it up with my parents to celebrate their 35th anniversary and my mom's 60th!!!! I should be in Colorado for about 3 weeks!! I am looking forward to the next couple months for sure.
Last weekend I went to Los Dinamos with my friend Victor. I seem to have explored the city more than my friends that are from here. So I get to be the tour guide. After going for an hour long hike, Victor and I enjoyed fresh trout, tacos, soup, beers, and cafe con leche. Mmmmmmm
On Sunday I participated in yet another mtn bike race and WON!!! But this time I had competition. Ok, it was only one other person but I still won. I did manage to crash on a pretty technical decent and I have a nice big bruise on my right butt cheek. I have no pics from the race and I thought posting a photo of my bruise was probably not appropriate.All this week I have been in a workshop with some German colleagues. We definitely talked about some interesting science and health issues as they relate to Mexico City air pollution. But the best part of the workshop is that is was held at a conference room in UNAM's botanical gardens. I think these gardens are one of the hidden treasures in Mexico City.
Next big adventures on my list are that my bro is coming in a couple weeks and we will be exploring Mexico together. Then I will be heading to Colorado at the end of June to party it up with my parents to celebrate their 35th anniversary and my mom's 60th!!!! I should be in Colorado for about 3 weeks!! I am looking forward to the next couple months for sure.
Monday, May 12
Mexico City Air Pollution
I frequently get asked how bad the air pollution is in Mexico City. Well, it depends on the time of year but this past week has been pretty bad. Let me give you an idea.
I will be talking about the pollutant ozone. The former head of the NOAA lab where I worked referred to "the good, the bad, and the ugly" of ozone. If ozone is located in the stratosphere (i.e. the ozone layer), ozone is incredibly good because it prevents very harmful sun rays from getting to the Earth's surface thus allowing us to inhabit the planet. However, if ozone is located in the troposphere (the layer of the atmosphere closest to the Earth' surface) it is bad because it causes respiratory illnesses and it also damages plants. The ugly part of ozone is that when ozone is in the troposphere, it also acts as a greenhouse gas. Needless to say, due to ozone's effects on human health, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) just reduced the ozone standard in the US from 80 ppbv (parts per billion by volume) to 75 ppbv average over an 8-hour period. That is, over an 8-hour period the average concentration of ozone cannot exceed 75 ppbv.
So let's see how bad the ozone pollution was in Mexico City this past Saturday, May 10th, which happened to be mother's day here. The highest consecutive ozone concentrations in the part of the city I live in on Saturday were as follows.
1:00pm 111 ppbv
2:00pm 118 ppbv
3:00pm 145 ppbv
4:00pm 155 ppbv
5:00pm 172 ppbv
6:00pm 159 ppbv
7:00pm 145 ppbv
8:00pm 92 ppbv
The 8-hour average is 137 ppbv, almost double the EPA's standard! So yes, the pollution is pretty bad here and Mother's day was one of the worst days I have seen recently (although I think the city breaks the EPA standard almost daily). One of the reasons that the ozone levels were so high on Mother's Day is that the mother is the most important figure in a Mexican family. Therefore, the 22 million people that live in Mexico City were all trying to get to their mothers. I am not joking, the traffic was horrible, worse than during the week. This greatly contributed to the high ozone levels. Kind of crazy.
I will be talking about the pollutant ozone. The former head of the NOAA lab where I worked referred to "the good, the bad, and the ugly" of ozone. If ozone is located in the stratosphere (i.e. the ozone layer), ozone is incredibly good because it prevents very harmful sun rays from getting to the Earth's surface thus allowing us to inhabit the planet. However, if ozone is located in the troposphere (the layer of the atmosphere closest to the Earth' surface) it is bad because it causes respiratory illnesses and it also damages plants. The ugly part of ozone is that when ozone is in the troposphere, it also acts as a greenhouse gas. Needless to say, due to ozone's effects on human health, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) just reduced the ozone standard in the US from 80 ppbv (parts per billion by volume) to 75 ppbv average over an 8-hour period. That is, over an 8-hour period the average concentration of ozone cannot exceed 75 ppbv.
So let's see how bad the ozone pollution was in Mexico City this past Saturday, May 10th, which happened to be mother's day here. The highest consecutive ozone concentrations in the part of the city I live in on Saturday were as follows.
1:00pm 111 ppbv
2:00pm 118 ppbv
3:00pm 145 ppbv
4:00pm 155 ppbv
5:00pm 172 ppbv
6:00pm 159 ppbv
7:00pm 145 ppbv
8:00pm 92 ppbv
The 8-hour average is 137 ppbv, almost double the EPA's standard! So yes, the pollution is pretty bad here and Mother's day was one of the worst days I have seen recently (although I think the city breaks the EPA standard almost daily). One of the reasons that the ozone levels were so high on Mother's Day is that the mother is the most important figure in a Mexican family. Therefore, the 22 million people that live in Mexico City were all trying to get to their mothers. I am not joking, the traffic was horrible, worse than during the week. This greatly contributed to the high ozone levels. Kind of crazy.
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