All I Need is the Air that I Breathe
Ever wonder about the quality of the air you breathe in St Barth? Gwad'Air, a French association recognized by the Minister of Ecology, has installed a trailer on St Barth to measure the quantity of pollutants in the air. The trailer will remain in front of City Hall in Gustavia for three weeks, after which it will move near the fire station in St Jean. This mobile station takes measurements every ten seconds to record the level of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and ozone. The measurements will be repeated during the more humid months of summer when clouds of Sahara dust pass over St Barth. In addition to the trailer, Gwad'Air has also placed 50 tubes on poles along the roads, which will stay in place for 15 days. The information recorded by the tubes will primarily be the levels of nitric oxide gases emitted by cars and boats. Surprisingly, and unfortunately, the North winds of winter bring quite a bit of ozone produced by cars in the United States and Canada to the islands in the Antilles.




