Getty Images
The Los Angeles-Long Beach area again claims the dubious distinction of being the U.S.’s most ozone-polluted city.
In fact, eight of the nation’s 10 most-polluted cities are in California, according to the American Lung Association’s annual “State of the Air” report out Wednesday. L.A. has earned the No. 1 distinction for nearly the entire 19-year history of the report.
The report looked at pollution levels from 2014-16 and found ozone pollution worsened significantly which the group says is due to warmer temperatures, while particle pollution generally continued to improve over those years.
About 133 million Americans — just more than four out of 10 — live with unhealthy levels of air pollution, according to the group of lung health advocates that finds itself lobbying Congress and the Trump administration’s EPA to maintain the Clean Air Act, which president Trump has said is too restrictive on American companies and the traditional energy companies, including coal, as written.
Lung Association president and CEO Harold Wimmer placed blame on rising long-run temperatures due to climate change. Smog forms on warm, sunny days and is made worse by the chemicals from vehicle exhaust and from power plant and industrial smokestacks. Warmer temperatures make ozone more likely to form.
Pollution places sufferers at risk for premature death and other serious conditions including lung cancer, asthma attacks, cardiovascular damage and developmental and reproductive risks.
Bakersfield, Calif., was in second place for ozone pollution. Other California cities on the list include Fresno, Sacramento and San Diego. The only non-California metro areas in the top 10 list were Phoenix and New York City. Of the 10 most polluted cities, seven cities did worse in this year’s report, including Los Angeles and the New York City metro area.
Bakersfield also took the top spot in a list of cities with another variety of air pollution — small particulate matter, or soot. Increased heat, changes in climate patterns, drought and wildfires — many related to climate change — contributed to the high number of days with unhealthy particulate matter, the Lung Association said.
California is known for its strict environmental regulations relative to much of the rest of the nation, raising some question about why smog can’t be better controlled. The Lung Association said experts believe conditions in the state would be far worse off without its strict laws on auto exhaust pollution and eliminating coal-fired power plants. California has done more than any other state to counteract air pollution, the Lung Association said.
The Lung Association also lists the nation’s six cleanest cities, meaning ones that experience no high ozone or high particulate pollution days.
The nation’s “cleanest” cities, those that experience no high ozone or high particulate pollution days are Bellingham, Wash.; Burlington, Vt.; Casper, Wyo.; Honolulu; Melbourne, Fla. and Wilmington, N.C.