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Southern California Sees Its Longest Streak of Bad Air In Decades (sfchronicle.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the hold-your-breath dept.

According to state monitoring data, Southern California violated federal smog standards for 87 consecutive days -- the longest stretch of bad air in at least 20 years. "The streak is the latest sign that Souther California's battle against smog is faltering after decades of dramatic improvement," reports San Francisco Chronicle. From the report: The ozone pollution spell began June 19 and continued through July and August, with every day exceeding the federal health standard of 70 parts per billion somewhere across Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. It didn't relent until Sept. 14, when air pollution dipped to "moderate" levels within federal limits for ozone, the lung-damaging gas in smog that triggers asthma and other respiratory illnesses. It's not unusual for Southern California summers to go weeks without a break in the smog, especially in inland communities that have long suffered the nation's worst ozone levels. But environmentalists and health experts say the persistence of dirty air this year is a troubling sign that demands action. Regulators blame the dip in air quality in recent years on hotter weather and stronger, more persistent inversion layers that trap smog near the ground.

9 of 107 comments (clear)

  1. Fires by phalse+phace · · Score: 3, Informative

    All the fires they've had this year made things worse too.

    1. Re:Fires by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 4, Insightful

      From the article:

      Regulators blame the dip in air quality in recent years on hotter weather and stronger, more persistent inversion layers that trap smog near the ground.

      Yeah. And the fires.

      Even here in Seattle, we had a week or so of horribly, smoggy air that was outside the "safe" levels, and that's pretty rare for this area. You could see the haze drifting over from the fires on satellite imagery.

      One could argue that a warming and drier climate encouraged the development and spread of wildfires over a sustained period, but it's pretty odd to not even mention them as a major contributing factor for this season's bad air.

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    2. Re:Fires by Ichijo · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Which side is the "nowhere" side, Los Angeles or San Francisco?

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    3. Re:Fires by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Yep, I read it. But you might not be aware that, according to observational data, wildfire smoke may interact with local pollutants to create ground-level ozone.

      https://www.sciencedaily.com/r...

      The Seattle smog was different, but the larger point I was making was that wildfires are huge events that undoubtedly have a very real impact on the regional environment. I'd be very surprised if the two events weren't linked. Can that be proven yet? No, but if you see correlating data, you have to at least LOOK to see if there may be causality before dismissing it out of hand.

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    4. Re:Fires by drinkypoo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Nice try.

      The forests are not substantially different after 100 years of fire suppression than they were after 90 years of fire suppression, but fires are much, much more severe than they were 10 years ago. That puts the lie to the notion that it's the built-up undergrowth responsible for the new severity of fires. They're getting fire tornadoes for the first time in built-up areas, not just in forests, which also has nothing to do with that undergrowth. You are in denial.

      Jerry Brown would rather spend the money on a train to nowhere and banning plastic straws.

      The train is meant to go everywhere, and without all the whiners and the corporate interests fighting it, it would. And it might anyway. Banning plastic straws costs almost nothing as government action is measured, and it has the potential to make a substantial difference in oceanic pollution. Like six-pack rings, plastic straws seem to have a disproportionate effect on marine life.

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  2. Re:DENIALIST FAGGOT LYNNFAG DENIES THE FACTS by h33t+l4x0r · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Not the ENTIRE area, just somewhere in that area.

    I wish there was a way to concentrate it right at the Trump apologists.

  3. None in this case by Bruce66423 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The chemicals concerned (e.g. NOx, O3) have a low lifespan in the atmosphere and so are not going to make the trip across the Pacific. A more interesting question is how much of China's smog is as a result of USA manufacturers moving their production to China.

    1. Re:None in this case by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Informative

      The chemicals concerned (e.g. NOx, O3) have a low lifespan in the atmosphere and so are not going to make the trip across the Pacific.

      Nonsense. Got any more lies which are easily disproven?

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  4. But the same article.... by tanveer1979 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Also says this

    "Further complicating the picture is climate change—the major factor behind the longer fire seasons and bigger fires. This creates a feedback loop, where megafires exacerbate climate change, which then encourages even bigger wildfires. One study found that from 1984 to 2015, climate change doubled the area burned by wildfires across the West, compared to what would have burned without climate change."

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