Zara Beadle
METR 113
16 December 2015
Final paper
California Drought
The California drought has been extremely harmful to the states’ air quality. Since 2012, California has seen the worst drought conditions in 1,200 years and it is severely affecting air quality (California’s drought, 2015). As of 2015, the cities of Hanford, Merced, Modesto, Fresno, Yuba City, Lancaster-Palmdale, Chico, Sacramento, and Bakersfield have been experiencing exceptional drought coverage (Pestano, 2015). California has a Mediterranean climate, which is a concentrated rainy period several months of the year and warm to hot temperatures the remaining of the year. For the past four years, California’s rainfall has been below average, which causes PM2.5 levels to go
People who work or exercise outside for a lengthy period are also vulnerable. Exposure to air pollution increases sensitivity to allergens, impairs lungs, causes asthma attacks and death (Climate change, 2007). Air pollution can cause short-term respiratory symptoms such as coughing, throat irritation, and shortness of breath (California’s drought, 2015). The most harmful pollutants in the air are ozone, fine particles, and air toxics. Since the drought causes warmer weather, levels of ozone or smog increase in the air. Ozone is the principal component of smog and it is dangerous on ground level, which affects human health, crops, and buildings. Ozone smog is formed when vehicle and factory pollution react with sunlight and heat (Climate change, 2007). The lack of storms due to the drought eliminates the natural cleansing effect of precipitation. The low levels of precipitation trap fine particles on ground level. Fine particles in the air are harmful when inhaled and can heighten respiratory illnesses such as asthma and bronchitis. Air toxics are the chemicals in the air that can cause cancer or serious health problems. Mercury, asbestos, and benzene are dangerous air toxics and diesel exhaust particulate is the number one airborne carcinogen in California (California’s drought, 2015). Allergens in the air also affect pollution as
The drought has worsened over the past four years with the state seeing rising temperatures and dry conditions. Climate change has caused temperatures to rise and precipitation reduction, which worsens air quality. The lack of rainfall traps fine particles on ground level to spread in the air, which are harmful to human health. Young and elderly individuals are prone to developing short and long-term diseases from the air pollution. The warm weather increases the levels of dangerous pollutants in the air, which can be fatal when inhaled. California residents must understand the harmful effects of air pollution and make better choices when using energy or transportation. The drought conditions are worsening but communities and individuals can work together to help improve the air
The California water drought has been declared a crisis by the governor of California. 2013 was the driest year on record, and California could be running out of water. Californians should be water wise, and their use, or no use, of water will have an enormous impact on this drought. They can use the techniques published in a recent Time article called, 5 Ways to Bust California’s Drought, to reduce their water use. Landscape techniques, alternate water sources, and the personal conservation of water can reduce the use of water, and can have a positive change on this water crisis.
On the heart (center) of California is a flat area with miles and miles of farms and up to 230 different crops. The central valley agriculture is essential to the United States; it not only delivers almost half of the produce but also helps the economy by also giving more job opportunities (California Department of food and agriculture, 2014). Many families depend on the central valley agriculture to survive economically in the United States. It is a well-known fact that rain and snows in the Sierra Nevada Mountains are a very important element in the central valley. No rain in the central valley can cause many devastating issues to occur quickly. Recently in the year of 2013 California received less rainfall than years before. The small amount of water the central valley is receiving is harming not only to the land but humans and animals as well. It’s destroying the habitats of animals with forest fires caused from the dry spells occurring. The central valley is going through a drought, so much that around this time of year the central valley usually accumulates enough rain for the necessities in the valley, agriculture for example. This year, however, has been different, the central valley hasn’t received enough water and this has caused a drought in the valley. Water is an important element in this world for not only human life, but for the environment in general, a shortage of water supply can bring issues to the environment and those living in it. The central valley holds the largest percent of class one soil, not only that, the valley grows a third of all the produce being grown in the United States, that’s more than 230 crops that are being grown in the central valley. However, this drought isn’t only affecting the resident...
Berg, N., September 28, 2011, Why Does California's Central Valley Have Such Bad Air Pollution?: Citylab
Imagine living in a smog, pollution free environment where the air was clean and skies were clear. Unfortunately, we do not have this luxury of that reality in the Central Valley. As many are aware, the Central Valley has a reputation of being one of the most polluted areas in California. With the air so polluted, it makes living in the Central Valley a little more difficult for everyone, whether it is realized or not. Although there are many reasons that cause the air to be polluted, the air in the Central Valley is polluted mainly because of the large manufacture infrastructures, semi/diesel trucks, fireplaces, and farming. Indeed, there are many reasons for air pollution, but let’s move on to the first reason.
The reason for this is we have been having more wildfires then ever before. A big contribution to the natural disasters of this world is the ecosystem. When the air is highly polluted, the risk of things like wildfires rise. We are only raising that risk by adding more pollution to the air with prescribed fires. These fires are dangerous. They are starting to get out of control too often. By trying to reduce the risk of wildfires, we are only creating
In the Mojave Desert the air pollution is mainly caused by the wildfires, vehicles, and power plants in the surrounding areas. The desert’s ecosystem is impacted by many factors and elements such as nitrogen, ozone, sulfur and many more. People who visit the Mojave Desert along with the desert itself can suffer from the quality of the air like health impacts like reduced vision and hearing. As of now there are some health departments trying to figure out why the pollution is so strong (source 1).
Air pollution is known to affect human and animal life. Plants are also affected indirectly as air pollution is known to cause acid rain, an even deeper detriment to plant life than most. Lung related diseases are among the most important features that the world have come
One of the most dangerous environment issues Southern California is facing today is air pollution. This includes the burning of fossil fuels and natural disasters. Los Angeles is one of the most polluted cities in the world, and the most polluted city in the United States. I will research information about the causes, the effects, and the history of air pollution in the Los Angeles. For my research, I have relied mostly on, the school’s database and library, as well as current events.
Onishi, N. & Wollan, M. (2014, January 17). Severe drought grows worse in california. The New York Times. Retrieved fromhttp://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/18/us/as-californias-drought-deepens-a-sense-of-dread-grows.html?_r=0
Air pollution is caused by many things such as car fumes, burning of fossil fuels,
There are many kinds of air pollution. The ones I want to talk about are the ozone, acid rain, carbon monoxide and toxic air contaminants. Ozone is formed when hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxide react in sunlight. Therefore, ozone is at its peak during hot summer days. Exposure to high levels of ozone can have serious consequences on your health. It can cause respiratory disease, loss of pulmonary elasticity, and premature aging of our lungs. Next, is acid rain, which occurs in the atmosphere in the form of sulfur and nitrogen oxide. These pollutants can have serious damaging affects on aquatic, forest and wildlife ecosystems, as well as deterioration of buildings. Carbon monoxide is another form of pollution. It reduces the blood?s ability to carry oxygen. If a human is exposed to higher levels, it can cause chest pains, angina attacks or even death.
In conclusion, air pollution affects the immune system, making it weak and vulnerable to certain bacteria, illnesses, viruses and foreign invaders. Common diseases that are affected the most include asthma and allergies. Air pollution in general has been seen to modify the immune system's handling of particular allergens. The exposure to toxins like dioxin can cause serious health problems for people. Having long-term exposure to this toxin is connected to weakening of the immune system, as well as the nervous system, endocrine system and certain reproductive functions. Hence, everyone has a particular level and exposure of dioxins in the body. Improving air quality is the key answer to avoiding any type of development of disease, but it is a long term goal that will require the help and commitment at the national and global level.
(2009). The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. Drought - a fact sheet. Retrieved from: http://www.ifad.org/lrkm/factsheet/cc.pdf The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, (2007).
they create many breathing and heart conditions like cancer and other threats in the body, that is why children who are exposed through air pollutants are most likely to have pneumonia and asthma.
Air pollution is a very large problem in bigger cities around the United States of America. In Los Angeles people are at the highest risk of death due to air pollution. Among the most populated areas of the country, Los Angeles had the highest estimated rate of deaths attributable to air pollution. (The Huffington Post 2014) New York City is another huge city that is highly polluted. The death rate due to air pollution is a little smaller in New York than Los Angeles but it is still a huge health risk in New York. Air pollution in New York City is a significant environmental threat which contributes to an estimated 6% of...