California’s Air Quality Report Highlight

As the state of California gears up for new clean air regulations and faces discussions over an electric vehicle mandate, a fresh report indicates that pollution levels remain a concern. Specifically, eight California cities rank among the 25 most polluted in the nation.

The American Lung Association has recently published its findings, which detail both the cleanest and most polluted cities concerning air quality. Bakersfield and the nearby Delano area continue to lead as the most polluted among the 211 metropolitan regions assessed for year-round particle pollution.

When it comes to annual particulate pollution, California boasts four other cities in the top ten: Fresno-Hanford-Corcoran in fourth place, followed by a tie at fifth between San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad and Visalia, with Los Angeles-Long Beach coming in seventh.

Additionally, San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose are tied for 13th place, while El Centro ranks 21st in terms of year-round particle pollution.

In the short-term particle pollution category, Bakersfield-Delano saw a slight improvement, dropping from first to third place, with Fairbanks, Alaska taking the top spot this year. Other cities like Visalia (5th), Fresno-Hanford-Corcoran (6th), and Los Angeles-Long Beach (7th) also made the list, alongside San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose (20th) and El Centro (14th).

Regarding the metric of days with high ozone levels, Los Angeles has topped this list, showing high ozone levels in 26 out of the 27 years referenced in the report. The city ranks alongside Visalia (2nd), Bakersfield-Delano (3rd), and Fresno-Hanford-Corcoran (5th) for increased ozone levels.

Los Angeles County did not fare well, receiving failing grades for both high ozone days and particle pollution. Out of California’s 58 counties, many—specifically 18—got an F for particle pollution, including Fresno, Riverside, Sacramento, and San Bernardino.

For ozone levels, data from 40 of the counties showed that 22 received failing ratings—Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, Riverside, and Fresno included in that group. Overall, the report highlights that more than 44% of the American population, approximately 152 million people, reside in areas with failing air quality regarding ozone and particle pollution.

Shockingly, nearly half of the children under 18, around 33.5 million, live in regions with failing air quality on at least one of the three monitored indicators. Of those, about 10%—or 7.3 million children—are in areas with poor scores across all three metrics.