Bakersfield and Kern continued to have some of the worst air quality in the country between 2018 and 2020, according to a new report that nonetheless highlighted significant local improvement, particularly with respect to reductions in ozone pollution.
The American Lung Association’s 23rd annual State of the Air Update, released Wednesday night, found Bakersfield had the worst particulate pollution in the country for the third year in a row, by one measure, and the second worst after Fresno. according to a different measure.
The city’s ozone pollution ranked second in the United States behind the Los Angeles-Long Beach area, while Kern ranked second in the category of the most polluted places to live in the country, behind Los Angeles County. Bow.
Still, Bakersfield was one of three cities, along with Fresno and San Diego, noted for having better ozone numbers than the previous year. The researchers also noted that Bakersfield has made great strides over the past decade.
Will Barrett, the lung association’s national senior director of clean air advocacy, noted that Bakersfield has seen what he characterized as a steady, healthy drop to 95.2 days when local ozone topped the national standard, below 97.2. in last year’s report and 103.2 the year before. that.
“That’s very good news,” Barrett said. “We are below 100 days of unhealthy ozone pollution” for the third time in the report’s history.
The report focuses on the health risks of poor air quality at a time when changing weather patterns — warmer temperatures and larger and more frequent wildfires — are making the situation worse. It calls for phasing out internal combustion engines and making cities more walkable, in part to protect communities of color who, overall, are 61 percent more likely to live in unacceptably dirty air.
Air pollution increases the risk of asthma, heart attack, stroke, reproductive damage, lung cancer and premature death, according to the association.
Topography and weather are a big part of the reason air quality is so poor in the southern Central Valley. The surrounding mountains trap pollution that is created locally or that flows in from more densely populated areas. Additionally, the valley’s hot summers contribute to the formation of smog.
Representatives from the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District said the improvement in recent years, not only in ozone pollution but also in particulate matter relative to a decade ago, reflects many years of work in the regulations imposed on stationary sources of pollution, as well as on taxpayers. incentives that finance the replacement of equipment such as lawn mowers and diesel engines.
Jon Klassen, director of air quality sciences for the district, noted what the lung association also noted: Air pollution across the West suffered in 2020 due to historically severe wildfires.
Speakers on a morning conference call organized by the lung association said wildfires are one aspect of climate change that is worsening air quality. More needs to be done, and quickly, to phase out greenhouse gases and particulate matter, they said, proposing measures such as faster rollout of zero-emission vehicles and urban design that reduces the need for cars. They also supported prescribed burns and public education to help prevent the spread of large wildfires.
One of the speakers, Executive Director Richard Corey of the California Air Resources Board, said that about half of California’s greenhouse gas emissions come from the transportation sector, which he says is also responsible for 80 percent of the ozone-generating nitrogen oxides, and 95 percent of particulate matter in diesel fuel.
“The fact is, we can’t achieve clean, healthy air for all Californians, or achieve our greenhouse gas reduction goals, without ditching oil,” Corey said. He later added that heavy vehicles, such as ships and planes, cannot be easily electrified, so liquid fuels will probably still be around for years to come.
The two main measures by which Bakersfield failed to see an improvement in air quality year over year are related to particulate matter.
Short-Term Particulate Days, for which Bakersfield ranked just below Fresno’s No. 1, reflects a weighted average of the number of days that the number of tiny particles in local air exceeds national standards. According to the report, Bakersfield had 41 such days between 2018 and 2020, a 28 percent increase from 2017 and 2019. There were 58.8 such days between 2006 and 2008.
The city’s annual particulate matter levels, used to describe particulate pollution over the course of a year, rose 4 percent to reach a reading of 17.6, which was slightly better than Bakersfield’s reading for all three years. that ended in 2018. Between 2006 and 2008, it reached 21.5.
The association’s report was based on an analysis of data from the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality System. It is available online at Stateoftheair.org.
Reference-www.bakersfield.com