Central Valley Air Pollution Essay

The San Joaquin Valley is home to over 3.5 million people who reside in the counties of Fresno, Kern, Merced, Stanislaus, Tulare, Kings, Madera, and San Joaquin. It is approximately 250 miles long, and is surrounded by three different mountain ranges, which gives it a narrow bowl-shape that collects and traps emissions in the surrounding counties. The air quality in the California Central Valley ranks among the worst in the country, which results from high levels of ozone (o3) and particulate matter (PM) that exceed state and federal air quality standards. There are many sources of pollution that contribute to the poor air quality of the Central Valley such as, agriculture operations, motor vehicles, industrial facilities, factories, and

Slave Owners by Necessity The North American Colonies began with noble ideals and plans for riches. The general idea of the day was that hard work was good for the soul and family. This was reinforced by the fact that Colonies that did not enforce or encourage hard work soon fell victim to starvation and disease. People were coming to these lands to escape the filthy cities, poor wages and moral bankruptcy of the British Crown.

There are different components that are contributing to the levels of air pollution in the San Joaquin Valley in California. Those components are the main reason for the air to be polluted and causing harm to the residents of the valley. The San Joaquin Valley is known very well for its agriculture. This according to an article called “Move Over, Los Angeles” By Marylin Berlin Snell talks about the main point of how serious the air quality has been and how it has been becoming worse than the city of Los Angeles. The southern part of the great central valley has now been covered in a brown murky layer of mist being at its worse air quality. The Valley has a “combination of pesticide spraying, heavy duty-diesel equipment, dust stirred up during

In the 1940's California was supporting a population of seven million people and contained 2.8 million registered vehicles. Within the next twenty years the population more than doubled to reach 16 million while the number of registered vehicles all but tripled increasing to eight million. This has been a common trend in California's documented history from the early twentieth century to today. There have been many historical and environmental factors that have assisted in contributing to increases such as these in California. One such factor was World War II, from the late 1930's to 1945, which triggered a boom in the population of California and the beginning of the urban sprawl. Increases in

The city of Pekin has a history of very dangerous and unhealthy levels of air pollution caused by power plants and ethanol manufactures. “The Pekin area has the highest level of sulfur dioxide air pollution in the state, according to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA), a level that now exceeds tightened federal standards” (Pekin has worst sulfur dioxide air pollution in state, 2011). This environmental issue has had great health effects on the Pekin community because of the mass quantity of sulfur dioxide pollutants in the air. “Exposure to sulfur dioxide, which is released when fossil fuels like coal and oil are burned, causes respiratory problems for children, the elderly and those with asthma or other respiratory illnesses, according to the IEPA. It narrows airways, leading to difficulty breathing” (Pekin has worst sulfur dioxide air pollution in state, 2011). The health problems that sulfur dioxide cause is detrimental to the health of the citizens in the city of

Being one of the biggest social issues in Los Angeles, Air pollution has two main reasons: vehicle traffic and population growth. Actually, it is in a such crucial level that scientists indicate that air pollution in Los Angeles may endanger peoples lives. Scientific researches show that the air pollution causes cancer and have an impact on pregnant woman. Advertisements shows us some solutions like making public transportation common and sustainable housing. With the growing population of Los Angeles, something has to be done . Otherwise it is going to be impossible to deal with the air pollution. Population growth in Los

Often while driving through the valley you may start to smell a particular difference in the air, and not in a good way. Perhaps you didn’t know that San Joaquin Valley is one of two districts in the county to be classified by Enviornmental Protection Agency (EPA) as “extreme nonattainment” ("The Air District’s Mission"), which means it is considered to have the worst air quality; worse than the National Ambient Air Quality Standards as defined in the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1970 ("Google"). Also, San Joaquin County is one of the nine areas in the country to be designated as a “serious nonattainment” area for particulate matter ("The Air District’s Mission"). Although the air quality is not great here in the valley since

There are various types of air pollution contributors in California such as fire generated pollutants and vehicle traffic, which add particulate matter and carbon monoxide into the air we breathe. According to an article by Union of Concerned Scientists (Cars, trucks, and air pollution, 2014) particulate matter is made up of fine particles soot and metal that can pose serious threats to human health when deep in the lungs. Other pollutants emitted from vehicles are: nitrogen oxide which lowers the body’s defense system against respiratory infections such as pneumonia, carbon monoxide which blocks oxygen from reaching vital organs, sulfur dioxide which is emitted by both power plants and vehicles affect children and asthmatics, and hazardous air pollutants (toxics) which are chemicals that are linked to cancer, birth defects and other illnesses (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2014).

The Water In The Valley. If the water is contaminated by the airborne pollutants, whether by depositing through direct water surface contact or by depositing on land and being carried to water bodies through run off, the residents will face problems. Once in the water, these pollutants can cause the fish to poison people upon consumption, or the fish could die out. Harmful algal blooms could occur; the water will become contaminated and unsafe to drink. This might seem like an exaggeration but in the San Joaquin Valley, the threat is very real. One might say that the people of the San Joaquin Valley may depend on water more than people elsewhere. The residents need water more because many of them depend on having enough water for their jobs, not just for their consumption. Being one of the top agricultural industries, the San Joaquin Valley residents need to have plenty of water for their industry of choice, whether is be for watering their crops or keeping the cows ' food (grass) alive, to ensure that they will be able to bring in profit to the valley and be able to feed themselves and their families.

Central Valley has its negative side also; air pollution is a big issue in the Valley. Many residents get affected by the bad air and suffered from illness like asthma, bronchitis, nausea, eye problems, headaches, valley fever, bronchitis and even birth defects. My son William has asthma, and he has been hospitalized a couple of times. Thank God he has been doing better as a young adult, but he still taking medication for it. My younger brother Luis was diagnosed with

The Central Valley is located centrally in the heart of California and is surrounded by two mountain ranges, the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the east and the Coast Range to the west. Due to its location, the area is plagued by poor air quality and extremely hot summers. The Central Valley is primarily known for its agriculture. However, for more than five years now, California has been in a drought. It has experienced some of the worst heatwaves in the country, with temperatures ranging from 105 to 110 degrees fahrenheit for months on end. This can be attributed to the rainshadow effect, which leaves the region with very little precipitation for a majority of the year. Most of the moisture filled clouds are blown into the surrounding mountain

Air quality is also affected by other mechanisms such as airborne toxins that arise from freshwater such as cyanobacteria (Health Implications of Drought…n.d.). Wildfire adds more soot, smoke, and particles to the air (Health Implications of Drought…n.d.). Agricultural dust also pollutes the air through soil erosion from improper farming and exposed bare land in between crops (Drought Measures for Dust Mitigation….n.d.). Increased temperature is not only producing more aeroallergens by earlier flower productions such as pollen and mold spores but also is potential for increasing the allergenicity (A Human Health Perspective .... (n.d.).A research found evidence that particulate matter in the polluted air also affects the environment as it can reduce precipitation in dry regions or seasons and also increase the heat in the atmosphere (Air Pollution a Culprit in Worsening ... (n.d.). A vicious cycle has started where we are creating more pollutants through various activities in everyday life; the environment is becoming warmer, less precipitation, air is getting more condensed. These particulates and toxins threaten health status of the population living there, irritating air passage, worsening chronic and acute respiratory infections (Health Implications of

In recent years, California’s Central Valley has gone from being America’s breadbasket to a near-dystopian wasteland—a landscape beset with air pollution with strikingly diverse causes. Five of the ten most polluted American cities can be found in this region (Wheeler, Morris and Gordon). This is not surprising given the host of actual and potential causes of air pollution problem in the heart of California. Ground level ozone is a major type of pollution in the Valley that primarily causes summertime “smog,” produced through the photochemical or sunlight-induced reactions between volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) (San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District 3). The other type of pollution, particulate matter (PM), refers to small solid or liquid particles that form in the atmosphere through gases or photochemical reactions. While the causes of air pollution in the Central Valley are undoubtedly manifold, the region’s agricultural practices still count as the most substantial factors for this environmental problem; in any case, the Valley’s unique meteorological and topographical conditions exacerbate the level of air pollution.

Since human’s activity, pollution becomes a big problem in the world. There are a lot of part of pollutions include water pollution, light pollution and air pollution. Air pollution is happened in our life. The United States is also a victim of air pollution. In 1943, Los Angeles photochemical smog event occurred. The whole of Los Angeles was covered with smoke. There are about 400 people died and a lot of fruits in orchards began to wither.

The environmental issue for my Milestone project is Air pollution. Air pollution is the introduction of particulates, biological molecules, and many harmful substances into Earth 's atmosphere, causing diseases, allergies, and death to humans, damage of other living organisms like animals and crops, or the natural environment (National Geographic, 2016). Georgia air pollution has been a focus for many years. Environmental protection Agency and Clean air act has been one of the main contributors to controlling environmental air pollution from increasing. The research is on scholars, chemicals and gases connected to air pollution and health hazards. Solution for Georgia is conserving, alternative energy and renewable resources.