Most smoggy cities

When we moved from Long Beach to the Sacramento area, we noticed a distinct difference in the air quality level although we thought Long Beach to be so much better than Los Angeles. Now, after living here over 7 years we have seen some of the smog starting to catch up with us. This was brought home to me in an article on www.weather.com where I get my extended weather projections.

According to this article the top 10 most polluted cities in America are:

Top 10 U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Short-Term Particle Pollution:

1) Pittsburgh, Pa.
2) Los Angeles/Long Beach/Riverside, Calif.
3) Fresno/Madera, Calif.
4) Bakersfield, Calif.
5) Birmingham, Ala.
6) Logan, Utah
7) Salt Lake City, Utah
8) Sacramento, Calif.
9) Detroit, Mich.
10) Baltimore, Md./Washington, D.C./Northern Virginia.

Now, I think this is a very unusual report having combined Long Beach with Los Angeles and Riverside. Everyone knows they're not only miles apart but completely different wind and weather patterns. So much for weather.com.

Then to make matters worse, the next two groups of polluted cities put the unwholesome threesome on the top of the list:

Top 10 U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Year-Round Particle Pollution:

1) Los Angeles/Long Beach/Riverside, Calif.
2) Pittsburgh, Pa.
3) Bakersfield, Calif.
4) Birmingham, Ala.
5) Visalia/Porterville, Calif.
6) Atlanta, Ga.
7) Cincinnati, Ohio
8) Fresno/Madera, Calif.
9) Hanford/Corcoran, Calif.
10) Detroit, Mich.

Top 10 U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Ozone:

1) Los Angeles/Long Beach/Riverside, Calif.
2) Bakersfield, Calif.
3) Visalia/Porterville, Calif.
4) Houston, Texas
5) Fresno/Madera, Calif.
6) Sacramento, Calif.
7) Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas
8) New York, N.Y./Newark, N.J.
9) Baltimore, Md./Washington, D.C./Northern Virginia
10) Baton Rouge, La.

That Sacramento only made two of the lists was some small comfort. Whether you believe any of this stuff or believe that global warming is caused by God's giving us a great big hug, you can go to the American Lung Association's website at www.lungusa.org to learn more aboaut what you should do about air quality in your community.