The Environmental Protection Agency Asks You to Help Them Understand

Essay

The Environmental Protection Agency asks you to help them understand the causes of urban pollution.You develop the following two hypotheses.Test each hypothesis against the given facts, identify which fits the facts better, and offer a theory based on your observation. I. Air pollution will be a greater problem the higher the average temperature in an urban area.
II. Air pollution will be a greater problem the greater the population located in an urban area $\begin{array}{|l|c|c|c|}\hline{\text { Urban Area }} & \begin{array}{c}\text { Days with Polluted } \\\text { Air }\end{array} & \begin{array}{c}\text { Average Max } \\\text { Temperature }\end{array} & \begin{array}{c}\text { Population (in } \\\text { thousands) }\end{array} \\\hline \text { Los Angeles, CA } & 104.3 & 70.4 & 15,302 \\\hline \text { Portland, ME } & 11.8 & 54.9 & 445 \\\hline \text { Cincinnati, OH } & 1.3 & 63.2 & 1,894 \\\hline \text { Milwaukee, WI } & 3.9 & 54.3 & 1,637 \\\hline \text { San Diego, CA } & 11.8 & 70.8 & 2,632 \\\hline \text { El Paso, TX } & 3.7 & 77.5 & 665 \\\hline \text { Atlanta, GA } & 4.2 & 71.2 & 3,331 \\\hline \text { Philadelphia, PA } & 10.3 & 63.4 & 5,957 \\\hline\end{array}$