Emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), VOCs, and mercury, as well as carbon dioxide (CO2), and hotter climate undermine public health, the environment, and the overall state economy. The worst air quality in the United States is in California, a state known for its efforts to raise environmental standards, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and combat climate change (California Air Resource Board Best Available Control Technology Guidelines 2000).
California has the highest ozone levels of any state, according to the American Lung Association’s “State of the Air 2017” report on air pollution, which analyzed counties across the country based on levels of ozone and particle pollution. The situation in California is steadily improving, but the state still lags behind the rest of the United States. Three California counties – Los Angeles‐Long Beach, Bakersfield, and Fresno‐Madera – had the worst smog levels in the entire country. More than 90% of California residents live in counties with unhealthy air, according to the American Lung Association (see Figure 5.2).
Why is California’s ozone problem so extreme?
California’s population is rapidly growing, from 15.8 million in 1960 to 39.2 million in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Major urban areas like Los Angeles are designed around car travel. In addition, ozone is naturally produced when the sun’s rays split oxygen molecules – meaning California’s sunshine exacerbates its existing smog problem.
Public Health
Nationwide, the report found nearly four in ten Americans live where pollution levels are often dangerous to breathe. But overall, the number of Americans exposed to unhealthy levels of air pollution dropped to about 125 million people, down from 166 million in last year’s report (which covered the period from 2012 to 2014).
Air pollution can cause asthma attacks, heart attacks, lung cancer, reproductive harm, and premature death. Globally, the World Health Organization says three million people die prematurely each year from breathing polluted air, and children are especially at risk. Airborne mercury falls into the rivers and estuaries, contaminating freshwater and saltwater fish populations. Mercury compounds bioaccumulate in the food chain, making king mackerel, bass (in some areas), and bowfin unfit for human consumption by children and women of childbearing age.
Visibility
Visibility in the southeast has declined by 75% from natural levels. One should be able to see out 93 miles on an average day, but now air pollution has reduced this to an average of 20 miles. On any given summer day, due to regional haze in the regional, there is a good chance that views may be entirely obscured by pollution.
Ecosystems
Air pollution causes acid rain and nitrogen deposition, which make vegetation more susceptible to disease and pests, contributing to stunted growth and significant declines in populations of redwood, dogwood, spruce, fir, beech, and other tree species. Rainfall in the regions is more acidic than normal rainfall. In the west, airborne nitrogen adds to nutrient pollution in sensitive coastal watersheds, contributing to algal blooms and fish kills.
Economic Consequences
California’s dirty air threatens the vitality of the state’s economy. Dirty air is estimated to cost the state over $20.0 billion annually in morbidity and mortality costs. Ozone’s effect on plants is “significant stress factor in agricultural production”. Air pollution reduces crop yields, which causes California farmers to lose estimated more than $300 million each year. Frequent smog alerts in ozone‐smog non‐attainment areas discourage hiking and other outdoor activities. The impairment of visibility undermines California’s $10 billion tourism industry. The loss in economic activity in the state’s National Parks is estimated to cost more than $500 million each year.
Global Climate Change
Carbon dioxide pollution from mobile and point sources is one of the primary pollutants that contributes to global warming, which over the next 30 years is expected to raise sea levels off the California coast lines.
Quality of Life
A loss of air quality clearly diminishes the quality of life for all Californians, but putting a price tag on it is difficult. Nonetheless, some indirect measures are possible. For example, quality of life has long been a major factor in persuading new businesses to locate in the state, which implies that as air quality declines, it will be harder for the state to attract new investment and jobs.
Costs–Benefits Analysis
Section 812 of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 provides a case study of a status that requires a particularly detailed risk assessment (or cost–benefits). The goal of this section of the Clean Air Act is to assess the costs of the Clean Air Act. It requires the USEPA to estimate the hazardous associated with the air pollutants covered under the act (USEPA 2011).
The statistics just given are not comprehensive: the economic effects of acid rain, eutrophication, mercury exposure, and other environmental problems are not included. Thus, the actual costs of dirty air are much higher than those reflected by the dollar amounts cited. Nor can any no economic calculation quantify the pain experienced by a child who suffers from asthma or a grandparent with cardiopulmonary disease whose death is hastened by exposure to high levels of fine particulate matter.
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