Friday, April 28, 2006
Valley Smog Worst in Country
The American Lung Association has recently ranked the most air polluted regions in the country, and the results were less than stellar for California's Central Valley.
The worst metropolitan area in the United States was listed to be the Bakersfield area, supplanting the Los Angeles basin for nation's worst air. The American Lung Association's website lists "Los Angeles, Calif.; Bakersfield, Calif.; Fresno, Calif.; Hanford, Calif.; Visalia, Calif." as among the worst polluted cities in the western U.S.
Sacramento and upper valley cities were also sited for having unhealthy air, but a problem with the ALA's rankings become evident upon closer inspection. Worse air quality is seen in the Gold Country foothills than the Sacramento/Stockton/Modesto area. Smog and air pollutants are susceptible to weather patterns. The delta region allows the flow of coastal air into the Sacramento and upper San Joaquin valleys. That wind pushes Bay Area pollutants into the Valley. Not only that, but Sacramento's industrial companies and heavy traffic contribute to the mix. However, the Sacramento region is somewhat spared as the air is pushed further into the foothills.
This flow does not bode well for the foothills, as the most populated towns in the region are most often built in valleys themselves. Thus, small to moderately populated foothill towns like Grass Valley and Auburn suffer from high levels of air pollution.
The causes of the air pollution are also not greatly taken into account in Bakersfield's case. For pollution to be lessened in Bakersfield, changes must also continue in the Los Angeles megalopolis. While pollution lessens in Los Angeles, it has not been enough to help the problem in Bakersfield.
Make no mistake--the Valley contributes much to it's own air pollution problems. Cited in the Sacramento Bee, the ubiquitous presence of agriculture in the Valley causes a huge problem in terms of air pollution. Cattle rumination (chewing the cud) is called by some the major cause of air pollution in the Valley. Steps are being taken to reduce this source of pollution by changing the diets of dairy cows. Agriculture also affects the air by adding pollen and plant parts to the air pollution mix. Crop dusters, insecticide, and fertilizer are also causes of air pollution in the Valley. Industrial sources and traffic, both of which have increased greatly in the Valley over the last decade, continue to be causes that must also be monitored, controlled, and minimized for the Valley to make needed improvements to the region's air quality.
_______________________________________
Sources:
Sacramento Bee 4/28/06
www.lungusa.org
The worst metropolitan area in the United States was listed to be the Bakersfield area, supplanting the Los Angeles basin for nation's worst air. The American Lung Association's website lists "Los Angeles, Calif.; Bakersfield, Calif.; Fresno, Calif.; Hanford, Calif.; Visalia, Calif." as among the worst polluted cities in the western U.S.
Sacramento and upper valley cities were also sited for having unhealthy air, but a problem with the ALA's rankings become evident upon closer inspection. Worse air quality is seen in the Gold Country foothills than the Sacramento/Stockton/Modesto area. Smog and air pollutants are susceptible to weather patterns. The delta region allows the flow of coastal air into the Sacramento and upper San Joaquin valleys. That wind pushes Bay Area pollutants into the Valley. Not only that, but Sacramento's industrial companies and heavy traffic contribute to the mix. However, the Sacramento region is somewhat spared as the air is pushed further into the foothills.
This flow does not bode well for the foothills, as the most populated towns in the region are most often built in valleys themselves. Thus, small to moderately populated foothill towns like Grass Valley and Auburn suffer from high levels of air pollution.
The causes of the air pollution are also not greatly taken into account in Bakersfield's case. For pollution to be lessened in Bakersfield, changes must also continue in the Los Angeles megalopolis. While pollution lessens in Los Angeles, it has not been enough to help the problem in Bakersfield.
Make no mistake--the Valley contributes much to it's own air pollution problems. Cited in the Sacramento Bee, the ubiquitous presence of agriculture in the Valley causes a huge problem in terms of air pollution. Cattle rumination (chewing the cud) is called by some the major cause of air pollution in the Valley. Steps are being taken to reduce this source of pollution by changing the diets of dairy cows. Agriculture also affects the air by adding pollen and plant parts to the air pollution mix. Crop dusters, insecticide, and fertilizer are also causes of air pollution in the Valley. Industrial sources and traffic, both of which have increased greatly in the Valley over the last decade, continue to be causes that must also be monitored, controlled, and minimized for the Valley to make needed improvements to the region's air quality.
_______________________________________
Sources:
Sacramento Bee 4/28/06
www.lungusa.org
