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Climate change: Smog and heat mean more “unhealthy days” for California
photo by Cesar Gomez (cesar3453 on Flickr CC)
Maps using data on ozone pollution, ragweed and “extreme heat days” in the United States show California to be an especially vulnerable place.
The number of unhealthy days in Los Angeles, in particular, is expected to rise in the coming years due to a combination of rising temperatures from climate change, droughts, flooding and pollution.
Research shows that rising temperatures can worsen the negative health impacts of pollution and ragweed on respiratory illnesses such as asthma.
Los Angeles has smog and ragweed pollen problems and is at risk for at least one unhealthy air quality day per summer, meaning the air does not meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s standard for ground-level ozone. Smog intermixed with pollen poses a dual threat to the health of people with allergies and asthma.
–LA Times
For more info and to see the maps check out the full article in the Los Angeles Times.
For more (frankly alarming) news on climate change and health, see the following MSNBC video interview with conservation biologist Dr Reese Halter from California Lutheran University.
Tags: California, climate change, Health, heat, Los Angeles, Pollution, Smog
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