Sacto Air Quality (or lack thereof) (San Diego, Sacramento: 2013, live in, zip code)

[terranova]

I just noticed that Sacramento has the worst air quality in California today according to this website:

AIRNow - California Air Quality

How can this be-- more ozone than inland L.A. with 11 million cars & people??

[BeauCharles]

It has the ignominious distinction of being tied with Bakersfield.

[vplegend]

Originally Posted by terranova

I just noticed that Sacramento has the worst air quality in California today according to this website:

AIRNow - California Air Quality

How can this be-- more ozone than inland L.A. with 11 million cars & people??

Ya I heard about that last week. Apparently I live in the worst zip code in Sac for pollution (95828). The causes for the pollution are pesticides, truck fumes, traffic density, industrial sites. hazardous waste and other toxic factors. There's also a carbon fiber plant here.

[terranova]

sorry to hear. sounds like there's more local sources of pollution. I thought that it was drifting over from the bay area

[BeauCharles]

Originally Posted by vplegend

Ya I heard about that last week. Apparently I live in the worst zip code in Sac for pollution (95828). The causes for the pollution are pesticides, truck fumes, traffic density, industrial sites. hazardous waste and other toxic factors. There's also a carbon fiber plant here.

My cousin just moved from that zip code (she lived on Florin east of Florin/Perkins Rd) to Merced. Kind of odd to think she might have actually improved her air quality situation.

[caligirlz]

It depends on what source you are looking at. Sacramento does not have the worst pollution in California, at least not according the American Lung Association State of Air 2013 http://www.lung.org/associations/sta...t-polluted.pdf

Here's more details about the Sacto region http://www.lung.org/associations/sta...sacramento.pdf

[SacramentoBound]

Originally Posted by terranova

How can this be-- more ozone than inland L.A. with 11 million cars & people??

Hi. I study air quality, and the short answer to your question is: Weather. It takes some time for ozone to form in the atmosphere. A little wind, a little cloud cover, or even just slightly lower temperature can have a big effect on local ozone levels. It's not uncommon for us to have a worse day than L.A., or vice versa.

[Mr5150]

To paraphrase BB King, if Sacto did have bad air quality it wouldn't have any air quality.

With that said 70% of the valley's bad air comes from the stuff that blows in from the Bay Area. Sometimes weather patterns suck, or blow.

Suck or blow. Opposites that mean the same thing. Like Slim Chance and Fat Chance. American English is funny like that, but I digress. I say this cuz my dtr in law is from Germany. Learning the language.

[terranova]

Originally Posted by SacramentoBound

Hi. I study air quality, and the short answer to your question is: Weather. It takes some time for ozone to form in the atmosphere. A little wind, a little cloud cover, or even just slightly lower temperature can have a big effect on local ozone levels. It's not uncommon for us to have a worse day than L.A., or vice versa.

Yes, i see what you mean. Yesterday was the first time i checked out this air quality website, and as of right now the worst air is east of San Diego:

AIRNow - California Air Quality

[ryuns]

Originally Posted by vplegend

Ya I heard about that last week. Apparently I live in the worst zip code in Sac for pollution (95828). The causes for the pollution are pesticides, truck fumes, traffic density, industrial sites. hazardous waste and other toxic factors. There's also a carbon fiber plant here.

But if you're looking at the same source that I'm thinking of, they also factor in poverty, since it's a big risk factor in developing respiratory ailments. So, on the bright side, if you removed the poverty factor, the air itself may not be the worse.