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I'm curious as to how El Paso compares with other big cities in terms of air pollution. I had a friend who visited El Paso and then visited Phoenix and he said he did not have problems breathing the air in Phoenix, but he did in El Paso. Makes me think El Paso might have worse air pollution than Phoenix, Houston, and Dallas. But I want to hear from you all who live in the cities mentioned in the poll on what city has cleaner air. I'm starting to think that El Paso might have more air pollution than other big cities. So the question is, which of these cities has cleaner air?
I'm curious as to how El Paso compares with other big cities in terms of air pollution. I had a friend who visited El Paso and then visited Phoenix and he said he did not have problems breathing the air in Phoenix, but he did in El Paso. Makes me think El Paso might have worse air pollution than Phoenix, Houston, and Dallas. But I want to hear from you all who live in the cities mentioned in the poll on what city has cleaner air. I'm starting to think that El Paso might have more air pollution than other big cities. So the question is, which of these cities has cleaner air?
Not Phoenix, it has mountains all around it so it sits in a bowl. The pollution just sits there.
Edit:
El Paso rates worst in short term particle pollution, Phoenix makes the list too, but 5 slots down.
Houston rates worst for year round pollution, only one for your list in top 20
Phoenix rates worse for Ozone pollution, all cities on your list are in top 20
source: http://www.lung.org/assets/documents...-2016-full.pdf
Not Phoenix, it has mountains all around it so it sits in a bowl. The pollution just sits there.
Edit:
El Paso rates worst in short term particle pollution, Phoenix makes the list too, but 5 slots down.
Houston rates worst for year round pollution, only one for your list in top 20
Phoenix rates worse for Ozone pollution, all cities on your list are in top 20
source: http://www.lung.org/assets/documents...-2016-full.pdf
so maybe its the kinds of pollutents
It could actually be what is in the air. El Paso does have a huge oil refinery in the middle of the city too.
Houston has by far the cleanest air on average out of all these cities, it's not even close. In fact, average air conditions there are cleaner than that seen in much of the country. The lack of mountains and frequent warm-season rainfall ensure minimization of trapped inversions that stew pollutants. Lack of continental influence, with dominant SE winds from the Gulf, ensure steady supply of clean, marine air.
What happens is that on the few days favorable to pollution, the levels become very high. Given nearby petrochemical complexes, combined with big city exhaust, this isn't a hard feat to accomplish. Due to the way these organizations rank pollution levels, it doesn't take much of these days to do the trick in getting it on the lists (even as few as four is enough): The paradox of peak-based ozone air pollution standards
Average annual May-September 8-hour ozone concentrations from May-September, 2000-2002 (left) vs 2013-2015 (right):
Houston has by far the cleanest air on average out of all these cities, it's not even close. In fact, average air conditions there are cleaner than that seen in much of the country. The lack of mountains and frequent warm-season rainfall ensure minimization of trapped inversions that stew pollutants. Lack of continental influence, with dominant SE winds from the Gulf, ensure steady supply of clean, marine air.
What happens is that on the few days favorable to pollution, the levels become very high. Given nearby petrochemical complexes, combined with big city exhaust, this isn't a hard feat to accomplish. Due to the way these organizations rank pollution levels, it doesn't take much of these days to do the trick in getting it on the lists (even as few as four is enough): The paradox of peak-based ozone air pollution standards
Average annual May-September 8-hour ozone concentrations from May-September, 2000-2002 (left) vs 2013-2015 (right):
The cleanliness is because of Houston's climate, as I've explained:
Quote:
Frequent warm-season rainfall ensures minimization of trapped inversions that stew pollutants. Lack of continental influence, with dominant SE winds from the Gulf, ensure steady supply of clean, marine air.
These same climactic factors help to keep the entire SE US a relatively clean air region. Lack of continental influence is a huge factor in this, as it decreases the ease at which pollution from across the country can waft into an area from mobile mid-latitude air masses. Continental influence decreases with lower latitudes, hence the very clean air in the FL Peninsula, and areas of southern Texas.
Seems like El Paso has the most air pollution out of all the cities mentioned. I actually wonder how El Paso compares to anywhere in LA. I'm really surprised to see this. El Paso is much smaller than the other cities mentioned, but I think the reason El Paso has the most air pollution is because of Ciudad Juarez right next to it. I remember living in El Paso, it was always hard to go for a run outside and I'd be wheezing within a few seconds. That explains why I'd always exercise indoors.
The data is all completely wrong. I'm not going to believe those websites anymore that rank cities based on air pollution.
I think we can conclude that Phoenix and El Paso don't have the cleanest air compared to the other cities. It is obvious why San Diego would have clean air. No factories and it is right by the Pacific Ocean. Tucson was not on this list, but I would say Tucson comes in 2nd place after San Diego for best air. No factories or anything here. It's nothing but fresh desert air. Between Phoenix and El Paso, I'd say El Paso is a lot more air polluted than Phoenix. Phoenix does not have any factories and the only pollution there comes from cars. El Paso has a much thicker layer of ozone compared to Phoenix. Now we shall see how both these cities compare to Los Angeles.
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