By: Rachel Howe, Nicole Kravchenko, and Alex Van Dyke
1. Location
a. Air pollution is a regional problem in Los Angeles, a metropolitan city located in Southern California. However, more specifically, air pollution is a problem that greatly affects its local inhabitants.
b. Los Angeles is located in a chaparral, and it’s geography is a huge contributor to the problem of air pollution. Located between the Pacific Ocean and surrounding mountains, Los Angeles has the ideal geography for temperature inversions, which often magnifies pollution. Additionally, dust domes are unique to cities. When a significant amount of pollution is collected into one area and warm air maintains the pollution in this area, a dust dome is created. Particulate matter from the dust dome decreases the air quality (book 205).
2. Specifics of the Problem
a. Los Angeles’s air pollution issue started in the 18th century due to the industrial revolution and the nation’s rising dependency on factories. In Air Pollutants, Oxidative Stress and Human Health, authors Wei Yang and Stanley T. Omaye argue that people in the 18th century “generally saw smoke as unavoidable and while some argued against laws, others saw that smoke was associated with wealth of the times” (46). Air quality worsened as industrialization became the main source of production and jobs. Factory and mass production decreased air quality especially in the 1950s and 1970s. This drew attention to people’s potential health risks and thus lead to the implementation of air quality standard regulations. “In 1969, California became the first state to enforce emission standards on motor vehicles largely because of the air pollution problems in Los Angeles” (book 204). Since then, air pollution in California--particularly Los Angeles--has improved significantly, allowing for the cleanest air quality since the 1950s. However, air pollutants are still well over federal recommended standards so air pollution is still an issue today.
b. Due to Los Angeles’s geography, the city is a prime location for temperature inversions. Temperature inversions trap cold air concentrated with pollutants and particles near the ground. Warm air sits above the cold air, preventing the cold air from moving, and traps the pollutants and particles in the area where people reside (book 204) . Furthermore, the climate in Los Angeles contributes to air pollution because the sunny weather instigates the formation of photochemical smog. According to James G. Edinger, author of Vertical Distribution of Photochemical Smog in Los Angeles Basin, “the polluted layer confined beneath the temperature inversion, laminae [a thin layer, plate, or scale of sedimentary rock, organic tissue, or other material] of pollution are detected within the inversion layer with concentrations of oxidant as high as those observed in the ground-based smog layer” (247). Photochemical smog is formed from reactions between the sun, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides. The underlying causes of this air pollution is political. Sukkoo Kim, in Immigration, Industrial Revolution, and Urban Growth in the United States, 1820-1920: Factory Endowments, Technology and Geography, explains the “Industrial Revolution is fundamentally linked with the rise of factories and the decline of skilled artisans in manufacturing” (2). When America began industrializing in order to remain independent and self sufficient. The future consequences of rapid industrialization was not a concern. Countries today are still developing and competing with each other, which is directly associated with air pollution in each region.
c. The consequences of this issue include serious and chronic health effects on biotic populations in Los Angeles. Health effects include asthma, chronic bronchitis, eye irritation, and cardiovascular complications. Furthermore, people from low socioeconomic background are affected more than those from better socioeconomic backgrounds. L. A. Thibodeau, R. B. Reed, Yvonne M. M. Bishop, and L.A. Kammerman argue in Air Pollution and Human Health: A Review and Reanalysis that people of lower socioeconomic backgrounds “drift to the urban areas in their search for employment and medical care” (168). However, humans are not the only populations affected by air pollution. Plants and animals also suffer from the lack of clean air.
3. Larger Consequences of the Problem
a. There are other cases of air pollution in other countries as well. China is facing a large amount of air pollution due to its own industrialization. When looking at one pollutant, particularly sulfur dioxide, other cities such as Istanbul, Beijing, and Guiyang have extremely high concentrations. Furthermore, other parts of the United States are also suffering from poor air quality. Places like the northeastern United States fall subject to air pollution due to the overwhelming amount of factories and coal mining.
b. There are global consequences to this issue because air is not stagnant; it moves. Thus, Los Angeles and other cities are affected by air pollution from other countries through the global distillation effect. This phenomenon explains that “chemicals enter the atmosphere in warm regions and move to areas of higher, cooler latitudes where they are deposited on the surface” (book 190). People should not assume that the pollution caused by their region is the only pollution in the atmosphere; they may be breathing in air polluted from a factories thousands of miles away. Additionally, their pollution will spread and affect other regions, which they may not take into consideration.
4. Solutions
a. There are many simple and realistic solutions to the air pollution problem. For example, people can greatly reduce their automobile emissions by carpooling and taking public transportation. Additionally, the use of low-emission alternative fuels such as natural gas will reduce the emission of air pollutants. California has taken this step forward by mostly employing the use of natural gas instead of coal as fuel (book 204). Furthermore, hybrid cars and solar-panels are both easy and tangible ways for people to reduce their imprint in the air.
b. The Clean Air Act (CAA), established in 1970, is a major contributor the the improvement of air quality in Los Angeles. This act sets and enforces pollution controls for many locations in the United States. For example, the CAA sets standards on how much air pollutants factories can produce when operating. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) works closely with the Clean Air Act to regulate the level of air pollutants--specifically pollutants like lead, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, ozone, and sulfur dioxide (book 207).
c. These solutions have been applied with success. Due to the efforts of the CAA and the EPA, “overall air quality has improved since 1970s” (book 207). This is remarkable considering that the United States is using more energy and has more cars today than in the 1970s. Martin Wachs highlights that the improvements of Los Angeles “appear to be more promising as cost-effective approaches to coping with congestion in Los Angeles than the current regional transportation policies” in the article Learning from Los Angeles: Transport, Urban Form, and Air Quality (1).
5. Conclusion
a. The likelihood of solving air pollution is not realistic because it is not an issue that can be completely resolved. We have made many irreversible environmental impacts that have long lasting consequences. The likelihood of improving air pollution is very high. We need to continue abiding by CAA and EPA standards. Although, if we keep an environmentally friendly mindset when making decisions like which cars to buy and lifestyle choices, the air quality in Los Angeles will improve.
b. The overarching lesson is that we can make a positive impact when it comes to air pollution by the simple choices we make. If we continue with the goal of improving air quality, we can reduce the amount of pollution in the air and reduce the risk of health problems in our local communities.
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