True or False:
Los Angeles has the worst smog and air quality in the United States.
FALSE; however, it comes in close second behind Bakersfield
Location
When you hear the word smog the first place that comes to the mind of many is Los Angeles. But why is that? To begin Los Angeles has been in a constant battle with air pollution and smog since the 1940’s. Locally, Los Angeles is popular as a location for smog because it hosts the three most polluted areas in California: East LA, Vernon, and Baldwin Park (Yasuda, 2013). Nationally, Los Angeles has the highest record of smog levels, despite its continuous improvement (VenMeetren, 1999). Location is the primary reason why Los Angeles and other major cities face high smog concentrations. Los Angeles, surrounded by mountains and temperature inversion, becomes an environmental trap for air pollutants and smog. With the surrounding mountains, the air trapped has nowhere to go and thus eventually begins to accumulate. Secondly, geographical climates also contributed to the excessive smog in Los Angeles. With mild temperatures, and almost no breeze or wind, there is nothing forcing the smog out of the area. Los Angeles is not alone in their geography. In fact, similar areas globally that struggle with this geography and high levels of smog include: Beijing, Mexico City, Denver, etc. In regards to health, living in Los Angeles deeply impacts healthiness and well-being. In fact, according to studies done in University of California, Berkeley living in Los Angeles increases our exposure to cancer by 5 times higher than living in another area (http://are.berkeley.edu).
- Location is one of the primary reason air pollution is so bad in the Los Angeles region
- The surrounding of mountains traps air pollutants and allows them to accumulate
- Its urban and large area also contributes to congestion of smog
(Figure 8.13 from Visualizing Environmental Science, 205)
Specifics of the Problem
Photochemical smog is defined as “a brownish-orange haze formed by chemical reactions involving sunlight, nitrogen oxides, and hydrocarbons,” or more simply stated, “air pollution in urban areas” (Berg et al. 2007, 201). In the 1940s, photochemical smog was first brought to the public’s attention as a hazardous air pollutant as industry and transportation was increasing. The chemical, metal, and paper industries are the top three industrial sources for fossil fuel emissions that contribute to smog. In the L.A. region, however, transportation such as passenger vehicles and trucks have largely created the smog problem. In 1969, California implemented emissions standards on motor vehicles largely due to the increasing smog levels in L.A. (Berg et al. 2007, 204). L.A.’s air quality has significantly increased since the 1950s; however, L.A. still surpasses the federal standards for air quality more days compared to other regions in the United States. In 1977, L.A. exceeded the federal standard 203 days and due to various efforts to increase air quality, L.A. has exceeded the federal standard only 120 days in 2008 (Berg et al. 2007, 204). Although air quality in L.A. is improving, there is still much to be done.
(Figure 8.11 from Visualizing Environmental Science, 204)
Photochemical smog is a reaction that involves nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, oxygen, solar energy, and ozone. Ozone is a main component in smog. Ozone reacts with air pollutants like hydrocarbons to create over 100 different secondary pollutants (Berg et al. 2007, 202). There are seven general categories for air pollution: particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, carbon oxides, hydrocarbons, ozone, and air toxics. Primary air pollutants include carbon oxides, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, and hydrocarbons, while secondary air pollutants include ozone, sulfur trioxide, and several acids ((Berg et al. 2007, 196). Combustion, spilling of petroleum products, and car exhaust are the main human sources that contribute and provide the components needed for photochemical smog (Berg et al. 2007, 201).
Air pollution can cause short-term discomfort and have long-term consequences. Some of smog’s consequences include:
- Particulate matter can scatter and absorb light thereby reducing visibility
- Corrode materials like metals
- Sulfur oxides can harm respiratory tracts
- Irritates and worsens pre-existing medical conditions
- Ozone in the troposphere hinders plant productivity and growth
- Sulfur oxides are involved in acid deposition, global warming, and stratospheric ozone depletion
- Irritates eyes
- Suppresses the immune system and therefore makes the individual more susceptible to infection, which can lead to emphysema and chronic bronchitis
- Chemicals can bind to particulate matter that humans then inhale, introducing harmful chemicals into the body
- Human-made pollutants like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) breaks stratospheric ozone down into molecular oxygen, which allows for more solar UV to reach Earth’s surface
(Table 8.1 from Visualizing Environmental Science, 201)
Larger Consequences of the Problem
Los Angeles is not the only metropolitan region that has suffered from photochemical smog. In fact the term smog was coined in the 20th century with regards to the “smoky fog” in London from coal combustion (Berg et al. 2007, 201).
Another example of air pollution can be found in China were industry and urbanization is rapidly increasing. Studies have collected and analyzed data that demonstrates mountainous areas near metropolitan cities that are receiving less rain because of air pollution. Mount Hua’s climate was recorded from 1954 to 2007 and the analysis shows a direct correlation between air pollution and the amount of precipitation (Berg et al. 2007, 203).
Other developing countries, along with China, strive to be economically competitive and therefore become more industrialized (Berg et al. 2007, 208). Air quality decreases greatly in these countries because of antiquated technologies and lack of regulations on air pollution. These developing countries include China, India, and Nepal. Along with increases in industries, the increase in vehicles in places such as Latin America, Asia, and Eastern Europe degrade the air quality. In other regions like Cairo, Egypt, the lead pollution from gasoline is an increasing problem. The World Health Organization states that Beijing, China; New Delhi, India; Santiago, Chile; Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; and Cairo, Egypt are the five cities with the worst air pollution (Berg et al. 2007, 209).
Air pollution also greatly contributes to global warming. Industries and transportation have produced more carbon dioxide and trace gases like methane, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and tropospheric ozone which accumulate in the atmosphere and absorb infrared radiation which then slows the movement of heat (Berg et al. 2007, 223). This enhanced greenhouse effect affects the global climate. Potential effects of global warming include: (Berg et al. 2007, 226).
- Ice caps melting
- Sea-levels rising
- Precipitation patterns changing
- Impacts on agriculture
- Impacts on human health and other organisms
(Figure 9.5 from Visualizing Environmental Science, 222)
Solutions
The smog problem in Los Angeles is almost impossible to solve. However, what is possible is to change lifestyle and approaches and begin to reduce the smog density in Los Angeles. Here are three practical steps inspired from an article from CNN to reduce smog. (FlorCruz, 2015, CNN).
Step one: Becoming aware of the situation. The majority of the population is not aware of the immense dangers smog can cause to their health. Often society is in denial of the true state of the city, but if air pollution and the dangers were advocated truthfully the population would have no choice but to face the reality of our smog predicament and change lifestyle choices.
- Awareness
Step two: Create mandated laws. In the Los Angeles area a plethora of solutions have been implemented to improve air quality. The main solution began with the Clean Air Act of 1970, starting a national movement to improve air conditions throughout popular urban cities. This reduce. After the enactment of the Clean Air Act, air quality in Los Angeles improved an outstanding amount despite the increase in population, transportation, and emissions (Kahn) http://heartland.org/sites/default/files/kahn.pdf
- The manifestation of laws
- Industry Emission regulations
- Clean Air improved air quality in Los Angeles immensely
Step three: Publicity, Marketing and Action
Recently, Los Angeles and smog infested areas throughout the world have made outstanding improvements due to the advancement in technology and research.
- Marketing Green
- Green Technology- Green cars, Solar Power, reduction in plastic,
An example includes The Vehicle Smog Solution:
The solution to vehicle contribution to smog is that automobiles now are more clean in comparison to the vehicles used in the mid 90’s. Although vehicles have more strict regulations, there is still a large contribution to pollution due to automobiles because of the overpopulation of the Los Angeles area. Public transportation and carpooling are all simple and popular ways to reduce smog, however there are some new ideas that are beginning to be used in the future. One of these programs is called the Vehicle Retirement Program which allows vehicles owners to get paid if they return their car that doesn't meet smog check regulations.
Conclusion
Although Los Angeles continues to make large strides in air quality, smog continues to be an everlasting problem. Now, with air pollution diluting developing nations at a rapid rate, Los Angeles can serve as an example of the consequences of living in a toxic atmosphere. However, Los Angeles can also serve as an example of how to improve and reduce air pollution. As the United States continues to improve air quality, developing nations progressively get worse. By implementing different solutions we can take small practical steps that can make an enormous impact.
References
American Lung Association (2011, May 2). Half of Americans still affects by dangerous pollution levels. Retreived from http://www.citymayors.com/environment/polluted_uscities.html
Berg, L. R., Hager, M. C., & Hassenzahl, D. M. (2007). Visualizing Environmental Science. Wiley in collaboration with the National Geographic Society.
Blumenthal, D. L., White, W. H., & Smith, T. B. (1978). Anatomy of a Los Angeles smog episode: Pollutant transport in the daytime sea breeze regime. Atmospheric Environment (1967), 12(4), 893-907.
Herald-Examiner Collection (1968, left) and Gary Leonard (2005, right). Courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library (http://www.lapl.org/#photo-collection). Retrieved March 3, 2015, from: http://cires.colorado.edu/news/press/los-angeles-air-pollution-declining-losing-its-sting/
[L.A. Smog picture]. Retreived March 3, 2015, from: http://nca2014.globalchange.gov/highlights/report-findings/responses
VanMeetran, Jason (1999). Trade and Environment: Energy, the Political and Environmental
Crisis of the Next Millenium, EDGE (http://web.stanford.edu/class/e297c/trade_environment/energy/hsmog.html)
Wu, J., Lurmann, F., Winer, A., Lu, R., Turco, R., & Funk, T. (2005). Development of an individual exposure model for application to the Southern California children's health study. Atmospheric environment, 39(2), 259-273.
Yasuda, Machiko (2013). California Pollution Map. Associated Press. Retrived March 3, 2015, from (http://www.scpr.org/news/2013/04/23/36934/map-3-los-angeles-neighborhoods-among-most-pollute/ )
