American Lung Association: Los Angeles is still the nation’s smoggiest city (Long Beach: credit, how much)

[AnUnidentifiedMale]

Metropolitan Los Angeles, extending to Riverside and Long Beach, remains the smoggiest city in the United States, with an average of more than 140 days a year of dangerous ozone levels, the American Lung Assn. reported Wednesday in its annual assessment.

Los Angeles is still the nation’s smoggiest city - latimes.com

I think it would be a good idea for the state or L.A. County to start issuing tax credits to people who drive low-pollution vehicles.

[Santa's Neighbor]

I think they need to fast-track the new subways... the ridership is there, they just need the trains! They'd be so worth it in the long run, and unfortunately past generations have dumped the problem on current generations by not keeping up with needed public transit infrastructure in the past.

[LASam]

Originally Posted by Santa's Neighbor

I think they need to fast-track the new subways... the ridership is there, they just need the trains! They'd be so worth it in the long run, and unfortunately past generations have dumped the problem on current generations by not keeping up with needed public transit infrastructure in the past.

As much as I'm a fan of mass transit, I don't think it will do much to actually alleviate traffic on the roads. Mass transit provides and alternative for people who wish to not deal with the roads, but the roads will still be packed due to our population and infrastructure.

In my opinion, the greatest contributors right now to our air pollution conundrum:

1) The Earth... in the sense that LA is surrounded by mountains and naturally is going to hold in particulate matter. Nothing we can do about this.

2) The Ports... the ships, heavy machinery, and trucks are a major contributor to the air pollution problem since they burn diesel. Action is being taken to help this, which the article states is being fought by special interest groups. I think if we were able to take substantial action towards greening the ports, another noticeable improvement in smog would occur.

[californio sur]

Sadly, California has the 10 most polluted cities\ counties in the nation [mostly SoCal & the Central Valley] due, in part, to geographic reasons [mountains\ wind direction]. Can anyone imagine how much worse it would be if California did not have the nation's restrictest air quality standards?

[BRinSM]

Originally Posted by californio sur

Sadly, California has the 10 most polluted cities\ counties in the nation [mostly SoCal & the Central Valley] due, in part, to geographic reasons [mountains\ wind direction]. Can anyone imagine how much worse it would be if California did not have the nation's restrictest air quality standards?

do you not remember the 80s? i'm not happy that we're still the most polluted city/region in the country, but things are considerably better than they were 20+ years ago.

[Fontucky]

You shoulda been here in the fifties and sixties. I can remember walking home from kindergarten in Inglewood, and by the time I'd walked from Kew Elementary (which at that time was off Yukon where the 105 crosses now) to our house on 118th, every breath was painful. Anything beyond two blocks was foggy and indistinct because of the pollutant haze.

[FrostyThe2nd]

I don't know if we can do much to reduce LA smog. I heard that at some point the Chumash had a name for the LA basin that translates to "valley of the smoke" due to campfire smoke that gets trapped in LA's inversion layer.

LA has a unique climate and geography where cooler sea surface temperature causes the lower air mass right above the water to be cooler than air aloft. A really stable air mass results because the denser cold air likes to hang around near the surface. What makes it worst are the mountains that trap this cold air from spreading into the desert areas, thereby minimizing vertical mixing. This pretty much explains most of LA's weather: Mediterranean climate because of the cool waters during the summer and low chance of summer thunderstorms because of the extremely stable layer of air that prevails over the basin. Even if we are able to eliminate cars, the fact that mere campfires can haze the entire area shows that man alone cannot clear LA's skies. The only times when LA is cleared of smog are during times of great vertical mixing after storms/low pressure/unstable air or heavy winds.

[AnUnidentifiedMale]

Originally Posted by FrostyThe2nd

I don't know if we can do much to reduce LA smog.

Absolute, there are things that can be done. The improvement over the last 20 years has been significant. As car engines become cleaner, the situation should continue to improve.

[Visit a Library]

Originally Posted by AnUnidentifiedMale

Los Angeles is still the nation’s smoggiest city - latimes.com

I think it would be a good idea for the state or L.A. County to start issuing tax credits to people who drive low-pollution vehicles.

And who are driving legally because they did not obtain their papers/ID from MacArthur Park.

[yamota]

Hey at least LA is number 1 at something :LOL: