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I have a teenage niece who lives in a small town in Southern California who refuses to visit NYC because she claims it is too polluted for her. On the other hand, when her family visits L.A. she does go with them. So do you think that L.A. is less polluted than NYC? Would prefer visiting L.A. or NYC when considering the pollution levels?
NYC easy. LA geographically speaking, is special that it traps smog because of the mountains. Add the land-sea breeze, and you have a perfect situation that can keep smog building in the valley for days on end. NYC does not have the same setup. While smog can definetly form in NYC, it's more likely to be pushed out by winds or rain will clear it out.
Most of California, except the northern part north of SF is much more polluted than NYC. Forget about LA, I think even places like Fresno are more polluted than NYC. It has to do with geography, lack of rain, and wind patterns, not so much population density.
LA has worse air pollution. NYC has worse water pollution.
But neither city is like Beijing or anything like that, and both are perfectly fine to visit. I wouldn't listen to your teenage niece on this. She's just young and misinformed.
Last edited by That_One_Guy; 02-07-2017 at 01:04 PM..
Reason: Spelling
Your niece has no idea what she's talking about haha. I have really bad asthma. Almost died a few times as a child growing up in Los Angeles. I'm better now at 24 years old. However, every time I go home to LA, I develop at least some slight breathing problems and have to carry my inhaler. When I go to NYC, the only breathing struggle is when the heat index is over 100 and you're standing waiting for a subway in the underground jungle humidity. Besides that, I've never once had any trouble breathing in NYC. My asthma only acts up in LA now.
Sorry to be blunt, but your niece is very ill-informed and doesn't have a clue about what she's talking about.
NYC ranks #14 in ozone. LA is #1 lol. Pretty strong evidence there.
NYC ranks #24 in short-term particle pollution. LA is #9. (Short term: "Particle pollution can be harmful even if it is inhaled over just a few hours or days, even if the year-round averages are low. "Short-term levels" refers to just such spikes. These represent levels averaged over a 24-hour period.")
NYC is not even ranked in long-term particle pollution. LA is #4. (Long term: "Year-round" refers to an annual average level that represents the concentration of particles day-in-and-day-out.") Most Polluted Cities | American Lung Association
While I have not been to New York City, I have been to cities that have similar weather and a lot of traffic, and the air quality in those cities were never anywhere near as bad as it is in Los Angeles.
Where I currently live, the air quality is horrible, and I thought that it couldn't be much worse in Los Angeles, but I was wrong. Strange enough, I could breath much better in Anaheim and Orange, at least more so then I do in the area I live, and way better then I did in Los Angeles.
Even bassed on monitoring systems, New York City has better air quality then Los Angeles, part of that also has to do with one being closer to the ocean, and the other being surounded by mountains.
Maybe its a certain type of pollutant that bothers her?
NYC easy. LA geographically speaking, is special that it traps smog because of the mountains. Add the land-sea breeze, and you have a perfect situation that can keep smog building in the valley for days on end. NYC does not have the same setup. While smog can definetly form in NYC, it's more likely to be pushed out by winds or rain will clear it out.
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