h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

As Canadians, one of our favorite topics of conversation is the weather. The weather after all, is one of the most interesting things about our big, underpopulated, echoingly empty country, and we discuss it in great detail and with great animation whenever we can. It is no surprise then, that when an air quality advisory was issued for Southern Ontario and Quebec yesterday, it made national news headlines.
There seems to be something fundamentally wrong about the idea of smog in the air while there is snow on the ground. If we are forced to endure a winter that seems to last 3/4 of the year, we should at least be spared poor air quality while we are freezing our collective behinds off.
Canadians all over the country reacted to the news with indignation. During question period, the leader of a major left wing political party harangued the Environment Minister, eloquently bemoaning melting arctic ice, prairie droughts, and winter smog.
I too, was disturbed. With our neighbor to the south stating outright that they would not implement the Kyoto protocols, and my own country dragging its feet and trying to find any possible way around them, I was having visions of my unborn grandchildren sunbathing on the shores of Lake Ontario during Christmas vacation.
When I read a little further into the issue however, I learned an interesting fact. Until 2002, the Air Quality Index (AQI) was based on a measurement of ground level ozone. These pesky little molecules made up of three oxygen atoms are not actually emitted directly into the atmosphere. They are made when nitrous oxides interact photochemically with volatile organic compounds. In plain English, ‘pollution + hot sunny days = ground level ozone’. This chemical reaction explains why we never had smog in the winter before. Then in 2002, Environment Canada redefined the AQI, using Respirable Particulate Matter under 2.5 microns in diameter as a better measure of the actual health risks of smog.
This got me thinking. I am certain we burn more fossil fuel in the winter than in the summer, simply because we need to heat our homes, and we generally use our cars more. Higher smog levels make sense in this context. However, we now use natural gas for the majority of our heating, which is relatively clean burning. From what I know of my history and from talking to my grandfather, the air we breath now a whole lot cleaner than it was when we were using coal and wood for fuel. He speaks of clouds of smoke that covered the city in a layer so dense that you couldn’t see the sun.
Is all this flap about winter smog just another crisis artificially created by the media? Don’t get me wrong, air quality is a serious issue that needs to be addressed, but is it really getting worse, or are we once again being manipulated for the sake of ratings?