By the first week of May, a heat wave had pushed ozone levels into the “very unhealthy” range again.Ĭesunica Ivey, an assistant professor of chemical and environmental engineering at UC Riverside, said her research into air quality impacts during the COVID-19 shutdown found that in March and April, levels of ozone actually increased slightly in areas of Southern California with typically cleaner air, such as Pasadena, while dropping slightly in smoggier areas such as the Inland Empire. area’s longest in decades - but air quality experts believe much of the apparent improvement was, in fact, due to stormy spring weather.īy April 1, the region had logged its first bad air day since stay-at-home-orders took effect, and it racked up a string of additional violations as temperatures climbed into the 90s later that month. Dramatic reductions in traffic emissions certainly contributed to lower smog levels - including a 21-day stretch of good air days that was the L.A. The spike in ozone comes just months after many rejoiced over the perceived air-cleaning effects of the coronavirus lockdown. California recorded its hottest August on record, said UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain, who tweeted Thursday that the distinction is “probably not a surprise to anyone who just lived through it.” Temperatures spiked during the muggy, long-lasting heat wave that hung over the region in mid-August, and they were followed soon after by a second record-setting heat spell that made for a sweltering Labor Day weekend.
Unusually bad pollution is only the latest extreme to hit California in recent weeks.
Temperatures in Los Angeles County exceeded 120 degrees Sunday for the first time on record, thanks to a high-pressure system that also trapped dirty air close to the ground and allowed smog levels to build up. The war on smog has been called one of America’s greatest environmental successes.Īir quality officials said the high pollution readings were a result of intense heat combined with stagnant weather conditions and winds that were too weak to sweep away much pollution. California Must Reads: The war on Southern California smog is slipping.
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