will la air ever become clean (landscaping, allergies, air quality)

[SurekRZA]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

I live in central Orange County.

Your name is the biggest understatement of the year. "EscapeCalifornia" and you live in Orange county.
????

[LASam]

Originally Posted by PacificKamikaze

will the air in southern cali ever become clean or will it only get worse with more people moving in.

http://www.epa.gov/region09/annualre...alreport07.pdf

You can listen to random opinions, or read the above report from the EPA and derive your own conclusions.... you decide.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by SurekRZA

Your name is the biggest understatement of the year. "EscapeCalifornia" and you live in Orange county.
????

I'm working on it. I'll probably be here another year though while we wrap some stuff up.

[milquetoast]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

I'm working on it. I'll probably be here another year though while we wrap some stuff up.

giddyup!

[TonyT]

Depending on which story you want to believe, either the Spaniards or the local indigenous tribes called the Los Angeles area, the Valley of the Smokes. While smog like conditions were reported in the early 1900's as both the population and industrialization of Los Angeles grew, the first officially recognized incidents of smog in the City of Los Angeles were in the summer of 1943. It was reported that visibility was only three blocks, and that people suffered from burning eyes, breathing difficulties, nausea, and vomiting.

The terms coined for the smog events at that time were "gas attacks" and "daylight dim outs". The incident in 1943 was believed to be caused by a synthetic rubber manufacturing plant and the plant was shut down to alleviate the problem. It didn't work. With the increase of manufacturing plants in Los Angeles during World War II, the number of such events increased. In 1947, to combat the problem, the Los Angeles County Pollution Control District was established, the first such agency in the U.S. From that day forward there has been a non-stop effort to "solve" the smog problem in Los Angeles. And even though it is estimated that smog has been cut by two-thirds since 1955, Los Angeles still has what is considered the dirtiest air in the U.S.

Unfortunately, as much as technology has improved the situation, there is one thing that can't be overcome, namely the location of Los Angeles itself. Many Angelenos have probably hear the phrases "The Basin" or "The L.A. Basin" to describe the area. Basically surrounded by mountains on three of it's four sides, given the right weather conditions, polluted air will become trapped and stagnate over the city. All the catalytic converters and smokestack scrubbers in the world won't change that.

So, smog has a long history in Los Angeles. And more than likely, it will continue to do so. The air will only get cleaner but probably never be perfect. To accomplish that, you would either have to move Los Angeles or get rid of all the people...LOL.

[UB50]

If it's any consolation, Houston has beat us out for having the most polluted air at least once that I know of. If we're only the second worst, I'd have to wonder how bad Houston is??

[fairweathergolfer]

Very cool info. Tony. You make a good point about the geographical set up of this area and how it nurtures trapping air. The fact that it is one of the nation's largest cities is ancillary really. We just have to work that much harder at keeping pollutants from being generated here, but no matter what we do, we will always battle the issue of air being trapped here for the reasons you mentioned. Thanks for the input.

Originally Posted by TonyT

Depending on which story you want to believe, either the Spaniards or the local indigenous tribes called the Los Angeles area, the Valley of the Smokes. While smog like conditions were reported in the early 1900's as both the population and industrialization of Los Angeles grew, the first officially recognized incidents of smog in the City of Los Angeles were in the summer of 1943. It was reported that visibility was only three blocks, and that people suffered from burning eyes, breathing difficulties, nausea, and vomiting.

The terms coined for the smog events at that time were "gas attacks" and "daylight dim outs". The incident in 1943 was believed to be caused by a synthetic rubber manufacturing plant and the plant was shut down to alleviate the problem. It didn't work. With the increase of manufacturing plants in Los Angeles during World War II, the number of such events increased. In 1947, to combat the problem, the Los Angeles County Pollution Control District was established, the first such agency in the U.S. From that day forward there has been a non-stop effort to "solve" the smog problem in Los Angeles. And even though it is estimated that smog has been cut by two-thirds since 1955, Los Angeles still has what is considered the dirtiest air in the U.S.

Unfortunately, as much as technology has improved the situation, there is one thing that can't be overcome, namely the location of Los Angeles itself. Many Angelenos have probably hear the phrases "The Basin" or "The L.A. Basin" to describe the area. Basically surrounded by mountains on three of it's four sides, given the right weather conditions, polluted air will become trapped and stagnate over the city. All the catalytic converters and smokestack scrubbers in the world won't change that.

So, smog has a long history in Los Angeles. And more than likely, it will continue to do so. The air will only get cleaner but probably never be perfect. To accomplish that, you would either have to move Los Angeles or get rid of all the people...LOL.

[Fleet]

The L.A. basin does have a natural haze.

As for air quality, it varies a great deal throughout the Los Angeles area.
Fortunately where I live, the smog is rarely a problem... there have been many days with clear skies and 25+ mile visibility.
This one was taken yesterday afternoon- yet another nice, clear day.

[Californiaguy2007]

L.A is Enormous,so the Air Quality does vary depending on your Location....In my opinion the Air Quality in L.A has Improved....BTW,that's a really nice picture...Looks like a Good Day for Bike Riding

Originally Posted by Fleet

The L.A. basin does have a natural haze.

As for air quality, it varies a great deal throughout the Los Angeles area.
Fortunately where I live, the smog is rarely a problem... there have been many days with clear skies and 25+ mile visibility.
This one was taken yesterday afternoon- yet another nice, clear day.

[Fleet]

Originally Posted by Caliguy2007

L.A is Enormous,so the Air Quality does vary depending on your Location....In my opinion the Air Quality in L.A has Improved....BTW,that's a really nice picture...Looks like a Good Day for Bike Riding

That's just what I was doing... bike riding!

And, yes, as others here have said, the smog was worse in the 1970s than it is now.