California Air Pollution

The preconditions of the area where the fire occurred were very dry land with “whipping seasonal gusts known as the Santa Ana winds and the Diablo winds” (mnn.com). The fire was started by a hunter who was lost in the woods. He believed he could be found easily if he started a small signal fire however, because of the preconditions, this small fire would spread and become the “largest single fire in California’s recorded history” (mnn.com)

There are various types of air pollution contributors in California such as fire generated pollutants and vehicle traffic, which add particulate matter and carbon monoxide into the air we breathe. According to an article by Union of Concerned Scientists (Cars, trucks, and air pollution, 2014) particulate matter is made up of fine particles soot and metal that can pose serious threats to human health when deep in the lungs. Other pollutants emitted from vehicles are: nitrogen oxide which lowers the body’s defense system against respiratory infections such as pneumonia, carbon monoxide which blocks oxygen from reaching vital organs, sulfur dioxide which is emitted by both power plants and vehicles affect children and asthmatics, and hazardous air pollutants (toxics) which are chemicals that are linked to cancer, birth defects and other illnesses (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2014).

In the areas nearby vehicles are considered “safer” for the environment and for the level of pollution but, the level still rises from the vehicles and the human activity (“Air Quality”). Most pollutions are severe enough to cause harm to the people and the environment. Wildfires are a big concern to the air pollution in the Mojave Desert, the fires are a big threat to the Cajon Pass, a train station in Los Angeles, California (Nolan). Wildfires are the leading cause of air pollution during the dry season, May through October. The seasons now are months longer than the average season, from the dry seasons that come after the wet one (“Quality Management”). With changing weather, the fire conditions will then be determined how the desert will be affected during that particular season. The main contributor that causes wildfires to affect the air pollution a great amount is combustion, the process of burning something (“Air Quality Management”). The main effect from wildfires is from the smoke that impacts the air. With the surrounding areas of the Mojave

The county of San Diego is a unique haven to hundreds of state and federally recognized endangered, threatened, or rare plant and animal species (The Nature Conservancy, n.d.). San Diego is also a territory with a long history of environmentally catastrophic wildfires. The Cedar and Witch Creek Fires are two of the most recent and notorious wildfires in California history for their degree of damage in terms of acreage burned and overall expense (The City of San Diego, n.d.). During and after these massive wildfire events is a significant public health concern related to respiratory health from the effects of smoke and ash debris. The challenges presented in mitigating and managing these health issues extends into county budget, public education, and cohesive multi-agency prevention and recovery efforts. Moreover, participatory efforts from the residents of San Diego County is key to the success of mitigating health risks presented by wildfire smoke and ash debris (Phillips, 2009, p. 420).

The article discusses the conditions in San Joaquin Valley after the state’s largest fire left it covered in dust. On the one hand, the fire so far has spared lives and homes, but on the other hand, it has caused dangerous drops in air quality that can cause public health problems and threaten life. It discusses what many of the conditions are like since the drought has begun and how the longer wildfire season means more smoke in the air more often. Dr. Jain, an associate professor at the University of California, San Francisco said that, “It’s kind of a worst nightmare situation.” I agree because the amount of soot in the air is dangerous for all forms of life and can cause a number of respiratory health problems that can be fatal. Dr. Malik

“Wildfires Devastate California,” a nonfiction article from Scholastic News by Sean Price, describes the dozens of wildfires in California that are affecting lots of Californians by forcing them to evacuate. The main cause of all this is the four-year drought making a lot of the forests and fields very dry and easier to burn. The current wildfires started when lightning struck the dry fields and forests. There are about 1,200 more fires now in 2015 than in the same period in 2014 -- that is a huge difference for just one year! Currently, California has 23 wildfires with 10,000 firefighters risking their lives to protect us and to put the fires out. The worst of all fires is the Rocky Fire which has destroyed 28 structures and caused 6,000

More than a dozen wildfires in California have destroyed at least 1,500 homes in the past few days. According to this article, wildfires send smoke, soot, toxic gases and tiny particles into the air, which can be carried for tens or even hundreds of miles, and have been linked to respiratory and heart problems. Air pollution too my knowledge would be a big problem in California. Some of the most obvious health effects of wildfire smoke are itchy eyes, a burning or runny nose and coughing and the more time you spend outside when it’s smoky, the worse these symptoms are likely to get in my opinion. In addition, treated wood in a house’s frame, for instance, put there to prevent bacteria growth, can contain copper, chromium and arsenic. Consumer

California is one of the states affected by this problem. Every-time I watch the news, I see that Californians are coming with new technology to deal with this issue. We were experiencing lack of rain in Colorado Springs during the fires more than 2 years ago. Not only we lacked of rain fall, but the carbon release from the fires was way above of what the trees can absorb. The more fires we have in an area, the more carbon capture and release unbalance we have in the area adjacent. The quantitative data shown in your thread is a great method to find out more about this research. Great post!

Not much air pollution comes from different places but the northern part of the district which consist of San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Merced get 27% of there air pollution from San Francisco Bay & Sacramento. Where as the central region that consist of Fresno, Madera and Kings counties only transport 11% air pollution to us and finally a very minimal of 7% comes from the south valley, which consist of Kern (valley portion) and Tulare Counties ("Is there an air pollution

Massive wildfire ravaged Northern California’s wine country since Sunday night. Wildfires whipped by strong winds have swept through the region, killing at least 10 lives and more than 20000 people are forced to evacuate and flee their homes. This is one of the most destructive wildfire events in the state’s history. More than a dozen wildfires continued to burn across eight counties, destroying 1500 homes and commercial structures according to losses reported up to Tuesday. More death and destruction are expected. Authorities have not said what caused the fires but October is typically the busiest month for wildfire in California. Therefore, they believed that the hot, extremely dry condition in October created the critical fire conditions.

Being one of the biggest social issues in Los Angeles, Air pollution has two main reasons: vehicle traffic and population growth. Actually, it is in a such crucial level that scientists indicate that air pollution in Los Angeles may endanger peoples lives. Scientific researches show that the air pollution causes cancer and have an impact on pregnant woman. Advertisements shows us some solutions like making public transportation common and sustainable housing. With the growing population of Los Angeles, something has to be done . Otherwise it is going to be impossible to deal with the air pollution. Population growth in Los

In recent years, California’s Central Valley has gone from being America’s breadbasket to a near-dystopian wasteland—a landscape beset with air pollution with strikingly diverse causes. Five of the ten most polluted American cities can be found in this region (Wheeler, Morris and Gordon). This is not surprising given the host of actual and potential causes of air pollution problem in the heart of California. Ground level ozone is a major type of pollution in the Valley that primarily causes summertime “smog,” produced through the photochemical or sunlight-induced reactions between volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) (San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District 3). The other type of pollution, particulate matter (PM), refers to small solid or liquid particles that form in the atmosphere through gases or photochemical reactions. While the causes of air pollution in the Central Valley are undoubtedly manifold, the region’s agricultural practices still count as the most substantial factors for this environmental problem; in any case, the Valley’s unique meteorological and topographical conditions exacerbate the level of air pollution.

Los Angeles County ranks among the 10% worst air quality polluters in the US. The hustle and bustle of public transportation and smog released by an over-populated commuter based region, have significantly lowered air quality standards. Henceforth, health concerns have risen for all Angelinos. Research has observed that there is a serious influx of pollutants in the air that could have damaging results both on adults and children alike. However, different forms of renewable energy over the years have facilitated an alternative to this issue. A movement away from an urban sprawl Los Angeles to new urbanism has allotted us better living and breathing conditions over the last several years.

First off, I was glad to know exactly whom to blame for the ridiculously inconvenient smog checks in California...thanks ccair. If it were my job to balance people's rights with regards to air quality in the case of wood burning stoves and fire places I would relax the restrictions. Wood stoves and fireplaces are going to be a lot less convenient and common for people to have then when the restrictions went into place in some parts of California. I could not find a law prohibiting wood burning stoves in Redding or Shasta County, but Chico has a municipal code banning them. If there was a great issue of poor air quality already in the county, then I might consider only letting people who live outside of city limits have wood burning stoves.

The two biggest air pollution in California are transportation such as cars and trucks and stationary sources such as oil refineries and industry facilities. Two major pollutions are ozone and fine particulate materials. Ozone also known as smog. The cause of smog includes the automobile and industrial processes that involve combustion of fossil fuels. The products of fossil fuel consumption are sulfur dioxide, particles, ground-level ozone, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and lead. Ground-level ozone formed when nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds heat up under the sunlight to produce ozone. These petroleum-based fuels mainly come from burning fossil fuels such as gasoline and diesel: pollution that comes from our power plants and industrial facilities and from the exhaust pipes of our cars, trucks, ships and trains. US air quality standard is similar to World Health Organization (WHO) air quality standard that a quarter of the pollution. However, there is a quarter of the pollution lives in the areas that do not meet the standard at all.