Dr. Tom Iksakeit, an extension plant pathologist, has reported the discovery of Ergot in South Texas sorghum. Ergot is a fungus that may be potentially damaging to Texas' billion dollar sorghum crop. Producers should be aware that this fungus exists and that at present there is no fungicide labeled for the treatment of the disease, which originated in South America. There should be an experimental product on the market soon that will be effective at controlling the problem. Meanwhile, vigilance is the best advice.
Pollutants enter the atmosphere from either man-made activities or through natural Earth processes.
The former sources include emissions from industry and motor vehicles, while the latter involves volcanic activity, blowing dust and wave breaking in the oceans, just to name a few. The actual concentration of pollutants in the atmosphere is the most important aspect when determining air quality since it tells us how much pollution we are exposed to at any particular time or location. The two major determinants of concentation are how much emission occurs over a certain period of time, and the dominating weather events during that same time period. Light winds prevent the pollutants from mixing horizontally, while sinking air prevents the pollutants from mixing vertically. These conditions cause pollutants to remain in high concentrations and low to the ground where people are exposed to them.