chokin (most polluted U.S. Cities)

[Floridays]

According to a report by the American Lung Association:

MOST SMOG
1. Los Angeles, California
2. Visalia-Porterville, California
3. Bakersfield, California
4. Fresno, California
5. Houston, Texas
6. Merced, California
7. Sacramento, California
8. Hanford, California
9. Knoxville, Tennessee
10. Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas

MOST PARTICLE POLLUTION
1. Los Angeles, California
2. Visalia-Porterville, California
3. Bakersfield, California
4. Fresno, California
5. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
6. Detroit, Michigan
7. Atlanta, Georgia
8. Cleveland, Ohio
9. Hanford, California
10. Birmingham, Alabama; and Cincinnati, Ohio.

Does anyone live in any of these cities? If not, what other cities would you add to this list? I would definitely add Bangkok. (cough cough) :-#

 

[SlaveToTheGrind]

Salt Lake City and Denver in the wintertime.

One more reason why I would never live in LA.

 

[SGB]

Missoula, MT , with it's surrounding wood/paper mills and air inversions.

 

[Maister]

Gary, IN. has its own distinct atmosphere.

 

[Gedunker]

Gary, IN. has its own distinct atmosphere.

LOL, Maister! Fortunately I'm in the other end of the Hoosier State.

Nonetheless, Louisville's air quality is poor -- with Rubbertown and the chemical plants on the west side of town. If Louisville isn't in the top ten, it can't be far from it :-c

 

[Joe Iliff]

The Metroplex

The Metroplex (aka the Dallas Fort Worth metro area) is on the list probably where it should be. A fair amount of the time, our prevailing wind pattern disperses the pollution over East Texas, so it's regularly not as bad as it could be. But, put some stagnant air mass over north central Texas, and the danger level goes up significantly. Of course, the most dangerous time of year is our long hot summer. A few years back, we had 20-some 100 degree days in a row, and the respritory health danger index was sky high.

I'm surprised not to see Phoenix, AZ on the list. I always think of that American metropolis as having bad air, with all the emissions sitting in the valley, rather than being dispersed over the wide open spaces we have here in Texas. Air quality is one reason I much prefer Tucson over Phoenix. (Of course, I grew up in Tucson, so I may not be objective.)

 

[BKM]

I live on the western edge of the Sacramento Valley. Sometimes in the summer, you can ride your bicycle or drive up into the hills and look back over the valley and see the layer o'hydrocarbon fun. And, California MUST accept another 20 million people, we are told. ZPG! .

 

[Budgie]

The Metroplex (aka the Dallas Fort Worth metro area) is on the list probably where it should be. A fair amount of the time, our prevailing wind pattern disperses the pollution over East Texas, so it's regularly not as bad as it could be. But, put some stagnant air mass over north central Texas, and the danger level goes up significantly. Of course, the most dangerous time of year is our long hot summer. A few years back, we had 20-some 100 degree days in a row, and the respritory health danger index was sky high.

As a giant urban heat island, it has been documented that the metroplex creates it's own microclimate that effects places east of the metroplex. Obviously air quality and radiated energy from metal and concrete contribute to this phenomenon. All the metroplex needs to be up there with LA, is a mountain range on it's east.

 

[Dragon]

I'm glad to see that MS made it out of the top of these lists.

I would add Lake Charles, LA to that list :-#

 

[biscuit]

I live in the city with the fifth worst partical pollution in the US and can tell you that it's bad, especially during this time of year from the excess of pollen.

 

[Joe Iliff]

As a giant urban heat island, it has been documented that the metroplex creates it's own microclimate that effects places east of the metroplex. Obviously air quality and radiated energy from metal and concrete contribute to this phenomenon. All the metroplex needs to be up there with LA, is a mountain range on it's east.

Very true!

 

[BKM]

You know, counting dow the list, all I can say (or sing) is:

California! Uber Alles! California.uber Alles!

 

[teshadoh]

Duh! Of course Atlanta is on the list. But can I ask - what's the difference of a city with high particle pollution & smog? I'm sure Atlanta also ranked high in smog - but are they truly exclusive?

 

[SkeLeton]

Hmmm... Santiago is sure missing on that list, the only times that there's little smog is right after raining, otherwise, it's smoggy as hell, specially in winter, since Santiago is surrounded by mountains and has poor air circulation that gets worse in winter.

 

[Woonerf]

Reno Nevada during the summer and fall months is subject to poor air quality from high atmospheric pressure inversion brought on by the City's location within a basin (Great Basin).

 

[nerudite]

I live on the western edge of the Sacramento Valley. Sometimes in the summer, you can ride your bicycle or drive up into the hills and look back over the valley and see the layer o'hydrocarbon fun. And, California MUST accept another 20 million people, we are told. ZPG! .

How is the burning ban on fields going? A lot of the bad air quality in the Central Valley (especially in the hellish month of September) when I lived there was due to dust from farming and then later burning of the fields. I remember when I was at the Coastal Commission in the lobbyist office, that we pushed hard to get that thing passed.

I know that all the automobile usage is bad, and that's one of the reasons for all the smog... but really places like Visalia must be getting it from another source (unless the prevailing winds from the delta blow all the crap from the Bay Area and Stockton south down into Visalia/the Sierras).

Edit: Also, I see that Los Angeles is on the list, but San Bernadino/Upland/Etc. isn't. I would think that the REALLY BAD air quality isn't within Los Angeles proper, but is somewhere out in San Berdoo.... They probably lump it all into LA though because LA is the major source, even if the yucky stuff doesn't end up staying in the city (sorry San Bernadino).

 

[Michele Zone]

Duh! Of course Atlanta is on the list. But can I ask - what's the difference of a city with high particle pollution & smog? I'm sure Atlanta also ranked high in smog - but are they truly exclusive?

If you are asking if they are separate issues, the answers is Yes. They can come from different sources. There is evidence to suggest that particulate pollution is responsible for the uptick in asthma and similar respiratory problems. The evidence is quite strong that this effect of particulate pollution can be isolated from confounding factors (other pollutants). If you REALLY want to know, I can try to find some of the research that we covered on this in one of my classes. 8-!

 

[BKM]

I know that all the automobile usage is bad, and that's one of the reasons for all the smog... but really places like Visalia must be getting it from another source (unless the prevailing winds from the delta blow all the crap from the Bay Area and Stockton south down into Visalia/the Sierras).
.

You are right, of course, which is one reason Redding has some of the worst air pollution in the State (surprisingly not on the list. Maybe too small to be a metropolitan area).

Not real familiar with the burning ban policies. I know they do burn a lot in the Suisun Marsh south of Fairfield. Its gonna be a hot dry summer here, I can tell.

My chest feels clogged right now Oh well, if I don't feel better, I'll see if the doctor can give me a little extra treatment.

 

[JCDJ]

yay Jersey City isn't on the list

Last year in the Jersey City Reporter, a story was run naming Hudson County the 2nd worst polluted county in the nation, and there was a picture of an intersection right before the Holland Tunnel. I assumed that since we were the 2nd worst county, one of our Cities would be pretty high up there as the worst too, but strangely we're not. Why I feel a bit of disapointment perplexes me But anyway, it attributed the pollution to car emissions and shed light on the lack of emission regulation in NJ where Vermont, Connecticut, and New York picked up the program.

On a news program, they showed the safety report cards for all counties in the area, all of the counties in our state failed, most counties in Long Island failed or got Ds, and Connecticut didn't do so well either. Strangely enough, New York County (Manhattan) wasn't mentioned in the report.

Well, seeing this list is rather encouraging, from now on I can "breathe a sigh of relief" that the air I'm breathing isn't as bad as I thought it was (this doesn't mean it's any better, but at least it's not worse). Also, now I don't have to be perplexed about how our City also won 3rd place for best walking Cities in the United States.

 

[Habanero]

How did Phoenix not make it onto that list? 8-! We always have warnings about pollution, and it seems worse that DFW air (even though it's a dry heat ).

 

[BKM]

After awakening this morning at 2:00 a.m reaching for the albuterol, I went and got some new drugs. My doctor told me I should have all the windows shut and the air conditioner on. Yuck. There's an extra $80/month.