The Fourth of July can kill you. News at 11

There are times when the tree-huggers, god love 'em, ought to be locked up and sedated. Today, Slate explores the critical, possibly atmosphere-wrecking issue of air quality -- on the Fourth of July. Or framed as an interrogative, "Do Fireworks Cause Air Pollution?" The answer is, yes. Sort of. For a little while. In the immediate vicinity of the firecracking. Cue the bloodcurdling scream. Explainer columnist Jacob Leibenluft writes, "State environmental agencies often report Independence Day spikes in their PM2.5 readings — a measure of the concentration of very tiny airborne particles ... [one study] recorded sulfur dioxide concentrations as much as 10 times higher during the holiday ... " Okay, STOP. "Whatchu talkin' 'bout, Willis?" Somehow, I think Mother Earth and her know-it-all hominids will survive the celebratory onslaught of America's weekend-long birthday party. Here's a thought: Go grill a burger. The ozone level will still be here tomorrow. I promise.