My lung problems developed over time while living in the San Joaquin Valley to the point where I had to leave the state to be able to breathe. Sadly, I cannot even feel excited about going back to CA for my son's wedding because the air quality is so bad. The last time I went, it took me a month to recover from the nasty air. When you look at the entire state, but especially the San Joaquin Valley, the air quality is terrible. I don't understand why something isn't done to clean it up. When I wrote my congressman about it, I was reminded of the "right to farm" act. I understand the San Joaquin Valley produces a great deal of the nation's and world's food, but there has got to be a better way to fertilize, and spread herbicides and pesticides than the current methods. Beyond that, the "burn days" produce horrible air quality. The state of CA is going to be paying a very high price for this pollution. If you think the costs for medical care in CA are high now, just watch what happens over the next 30 years. It isn't just vehicles that are producing the pollution.
It's great to have a site like this one one hand to review the air quality in my area (which I know to be accurate - I have developed asthema subsequent to moving to Sacramento), but it is also just as annoying to read this sniveling, whining, accusatory comments posted about the AMA. GET A LIFE PEOPLE!
Chemtrails or Aerial Spraying if you like, has to stop! Look at the parallel lines, grids, x’s, y’s and z's in the sky do these look normal to you? Ask yourself is this a good thing? Planes are in the sky spraying us all day all you have to do is be observant. Who has the power to authorize these aerial spray missions? If we only get lung cancer we’ll all be lucky!
Aerial Spraying has to stop! Look at the parallel lines, grids, x’s, y’s in the sky do these look normal to you? Ask yourself is this a good thing? Planes are in the sky spraying us all day all you have to do is be observant. Who has the power to authorize these aerial spray missions? If we only get lung cancer will all be lucky!
Over the past 5 years I have seen and smelled the air in San Luis Obispo county appear and increase dramatically, especially this summer. There have been many days when the visibility is less than just a couple of miles. I know this is smog, not fog, because I can smell it and the temperature was high on these days. This includes the beach communities, but it is worse in North county. We can no longer take those clear, blue sky days for granted for they are few and far between now.
I would like to know why no one has the guts to address the obvious mega polluters,meaning the jet air planes. Our air would be breathable without them crisscrossing our skies 24/7. I guess it's all about the money not clean air.
Wowie, this is incredible. First off, Del Norte and Trinity counties do not appear because they have all "Good" air days according to the federal and CA-EPA and thus are null. Second, the author didn't grade these counties A-F himself/herself, it's all how the federal EPA rates the counties every year. The author doesn't show all of the facts on here, but I've seen the spread-sheet he pulled the info from, and the EPA releases a new one every year. A grade F designates that the county breaks the majority of PM-2.5/PM-10/Ozone standards (also taken in to consideration is how many times the county breaks these standards in a given day, and/or year) along with other factors. A grade of C designates that the county thus exceeds the pollution level(s) amongst half of the given criteria and thus is over the "acceptable" amount of air pollution allowed within the given criteria. Crossing that "acceptable" level is extremely serious and does incur serious consequences a long with that grade.
This author didn't arbitrarily give certain grades to certain counties because of human-based bias (for whatever reasons you feel they are). You can blame the federal EPA for the letter grades and other discrepancies. Douchebags.
I think that this data must be inaccurate. You put in a zip code and it gives you a rating based on the county only. It doesn't give stats for individual cities and I agree with other posters that air quality can vary quite a bit within a county. I've also noticed areas that are rated an F that make no sense at all to me such as San Luis Obispo. We've been there several times and their air seems quite clean to me. I've never seen a trace of smog there. I am trying to make a decision on where in California to settle and air quality is very important to me, but it is difficult to trust the data from this site. I've emailed them about this, but I haven't received a response.
To agree with some other people,no offense, please, I do think that MANY of these county ratings are twisted, like, San Diego County rating the same as Riverside, I've done research, and these answers are Very Close, but that doesn't cut it for me.
I just ckd my ozone grade for KERN/INYO counties. Stunningly heinous score of "F". Maybee each and every American should afford one of those atmospherical Oxygen Sleeping Beds, that Michael Jackson thought he needed.!?! OMG
I live in California and North Carolina. Smelled some bad air in both places. Both smoke Smog, and summer time ozone, or what I think is ozone. My county recently got a ozone grade of D in N.C. I just don't understand ozone smell... day to day
I want to know about Temecula which is in Riverside County but near San Diego County. I am told it has good air quality but I don't find anything to document-only that Riverside County is not so good. It is about 1/2 hr south of Riverside, CA.
I live in Lake County, CA, and once again we have a politically convenient, but false report that we get 2 A's for air equality. "False" because all air quality measurements are taken on mountaintops and NONE in our towns, except for Lakeport's south outskirts. The air in our towns frequently can be dense with stagnating fireplace smoke and vehicleemissions. Why do you accept data which (1) you do not collect yourselves and (2)which is fed to you and the state by the people who do the measuring (where most people are not living) and who are "encouraged" to make the county look good so as to help local developer and the tourism. Unless you immediately qualify the Lake County air quality report, i.e., that there are NO measurements in our towns, such that the alleged air quality report is misleading---I and my friends will no longer support the American Lung ASssociation, because we will airsee it as another phony, cover-up organization.
Worked 30+ years as consultant/educator in environmental fields. Find few industrial concerns really care about doing more than having a "program", hiring a 3rd party trainer for employees and hoping that compliance agencies will not call. Only change systems when threatened - for the most part. Have little hope that real change will take place until a catastrophe occurs.
Dear American Lung Association,
You really need to double check San Diego from 10 miles inland. The air quality in "America's Finest City" is absolutely horrible, ironically,the air in Orange county is noticably better even though closer to LA. You need to retest San Diego more inland, this city has shady and untrustworthy administration,would never trust data from this city's sources.
Also I have to agree with bob. There are hardly any C's over the entire state of California. I'm assuming the grading assigned an F to anything considered even minimally harmful, but it makes the grading rather skewed and irrelevant. It would be more useful to create a normal scale based on a bell curve and then explain the grading in terms of potential harm.
This data is not very helpful by breaking down pollution by counties. Some counties, such as Alameda Co, encompass vast distances, while others, such as San Mateo, or Marin, are very small enclaves by comparison. So it just isn't very helpful to know that my county grades an F, whereas San Francisco's downtown is a mere 10 mi from my home, rates an A. Where do I fall? It's impossible to tell. I imagine that the air near the Port of Oakland is terrible, but that in the small area of Piedmont near the hills, the air is not so bad. I wouldn't give it an A, but I can't believe it to be an F either.
The fact that you give both Los Angeles (weighted average: 96.5) and Santa Clara (weighted average: 5.2) an F shows how flawed your methodology is.
According to you, L.A could improve by 90 points and still rate an F.
People will not take your report seriously until you revise your grading. If Santa Clara rates an F, how on earth is it possible that anyone in L.A. is still alive???
Submitted by lung diseases doctor at: April 29, 2009
The fact that you list San Francisco as having NO POLLUTION on any day is so egregiously wrong that it puts your entire record in question. Your data:"Garbage in, garbage out"
