Environment essay

Pastory Muqaibal

Professor Louis Vayo

Econ306 sec 01

August 3, 2018

Air Pollution in California

Californian is regarded the city with the highest instance of the air pollution. Southern

California is known to have retained the worst air quality in the nation as per the report that was

produced by the American Lung Association. According the report the leading areas included the

Los Angeles, Riverside, Ventura, and San Bernardino and Orange counties. The lung damaging

gas that is caused by the polluted environment is believed to have been linked to the rising cases

of asthma and lung cancer among residences of the mentioned counties. The Los Angeles (LA)

beach metro area which include the inland Empire was found to the top of all cities in the United

States for ozone pollution. The following cities included New York, New Jersey as per the “state

of the air” rankings. The regions is believed to have dropped in the rankings with it moving from

the 7th worst to the 9th worst last year. The cause of pollution is believed to come from the diesel

exhausted from cars and industries. The small diesel particles are believed to bypass an

individual’s body’s defense system and lodge deep in the lungs damaging pulmonary passages.

The U.S Environmental Protection Agency has put together the increasing of hospital visits and

the lung growth issues that is in children and teenagers because of the dirty air. Research found

out that women that breathing unsafe levels of fine particle pollution were twice likely to

develop dementia and Alzheimer disease (Office of Management and Budget, 57).

There are many factors that are behind the unhealthy levels of air pollution in California.

The first is that California is highly populated with the large amounts of population being

generated by the activities of over 33 million individuals. Second is California’s topography traps

pollution and third is it has a warm, sunny climates that allows for the ozone and air particles to

form. Some other forms of air pollutants include Gasoline form diesel-powered motors, factories,

power plants, and fire places. There are also tons of pollutants that enter through evaporation.

The sources include fuel from gasoline storage and dispensing facilities, truck and gasoline

containers, personal, household and aerosols among other ingredients. The California’s

topography is perfect of trapping and forming air pollutants. Most of the cities in California are

built on plains or valleys that are surrounded by mountains. The areas trap the air pollution and

prevent air form circulating. The natural bowls do trap air pollutions and prevent the air from

circulating. In some days temperate inversion prevents vertical mixing and dispersion of

pollutants. During the winter the temperature inversions could trap the tiny particles of smoke

keeping the pollution close to ground where people breathe those (Loomis, Huang & Chen, 98).

The Lung Association conducted the research on the effects of air pollution found out that

over a three period form 2014-2016 when the research was conducted, the calculations found

that the annual average of days that ozone and particles exceed the federal safety levels was high.

San Bernardino County was found to the leading of all the five counties of California with nearly

146 unhealthy days that was followed in the following order Riverside 122, Loss Angeles, 112,

Orange, 13 and Ventura, 12. The riverside had the most unhealthy particle days with 13, and

followed by the Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Orange and Ventura. Research also indicated that

the number of particle pollution days in L.A basin that occurred from 2011-2016 kicked up the

number of particle pollution.

There was a drop in the particle from mid-2016-2018 from a high of 37 in 2013 to 11 in

2016. The drop is majorly attributed to the more rain that begun to be experienced in the area.

The brake-lining filings and other particles found on the roadways, according to research. When

the trend is compared to the previous, years, it can be stated that there has been a progress over

the last 19 year. According to the American Lung Association in California, the air condition

existing in Los Angles 50 years was similar to that of Beijing today. It is important to point out

the fact that Beijing is considered the highly polluted city. The report also stated that there has

been upticks in ozone in many parts of Southern California especially in San Bernardino. This

was majorly attributed to the heat waves that was experience in 2016 which was considered the

second-warmest year on record. It is important to point out the warmer air creates smog in the

atmosphere. The ozone is produced when oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic compounds are

exposed to sunlight and heat. This is then used to indicate that climate change represents major

challenge in air quality progress throughout the state. Despite the efforts to improve air quality,

the impacts of climate change is still interfering with the progress. The Southern California air

pollution still gets worse with the federal attacks by the current administration on the Clean Air

Act, and the carbon reduction rules for the power plants.

California is fighting an attempt by the EPA to revoke a waiver in place that is supposed

to run for 10 years to allow the state to set its own fuel-efficiency standards for cars and trucks.

The EPA during the last month came up with a draft decision that provided the reasons for easing

fuel efficiency regulations for cars and light-truck model years 2022-2025. California has set a

goal which aims to reduce the greenhouse gas emission by 40% by 2030 through the use of

biofuels, solar and wind energy as reliab1e sources of energy.

The state is also driving forward to put in place incentives to buy electricity or plug-in hybrid

cars in a means to cut climate pollutants. Southern California has experience a 30 percent

reduction in ozone and more than 80 percent drop in the number of particle pollution in past 19

years according to the research by the Lung Association reports on air quality (Air pollution:

Consequences and actions for the UK, 14). Most of the success can be attributed to the clean

federal clean air act, that was enacted in 1963 and strengthened in 1970 and 1990 and the state

air regulations. The federal efforts means that it would increase pollution leading the more

unhealthy air days, emergency room visits and high healthcare costs. The California Air

Resources Board and the South Coast Air quality Management District are on the fore front

advocating for increase in number of electric car sales and for additional electric charging

stations. Electrification of transit is considered to be part of the SCAQMD’s plant to reduce

ozone and particles. Research also shows that there are over 500,000 zero emission cars that

have been put on the road in California today. There exist 30 models of electric and hybrid-

electric vehicles. It is projected that in the few years the reductions will go up to 100 models

leading to people doing away with fossil fuels.

Works cited

Diana Younan, Catherine Tuvblad, Meredith Franklin, Fred Lurmann, Lianfa Li, Jun Wu, Kiros

Berhane, Laura A. Baker, Jiu-Chiuan Chen. Longitudinal Analysis of Particulate Air

Pollutants and Adolescent Delinquent Behavior in Southern California. Journal of

Abnormal Child Psychology, 2017; DOI: 10.1007/s10802-017-0367-5

Office of Management and Budget, editor. Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Report

to Congress on the Benefits and Costs of Federal Regulations and Unfunded Mandates on

State, Local, and Tribal Entities. Washington, DC: 2007. 2007.

Air pollution: Consequences and actions for the UK, and

beyond. Lancet. 2016;387:817. [PubMed]

Lovett GM, Tear TH, Evers DC, Findlay SE, Cosby BJ, Dunscomb JK, et al. Effects of air

pollution on ecosystems and biological diversity in the eastern United States. Ann N Y Acad

Sci. 2009;1162:99–135.

Loomis D, Huang W, Chen G. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)

evaluation of the carcinogenicity of outdoor air pollution: Focus on China. Chin J

Cancer. 2014;33:189–96.[PMC free article] [PubMed]