The American Lung Association of CA just released its annual State of the Air: 2007 report and not surprisingly, we're not doing that well. Actually, that's a slight understatement. WE'RE TOTALLY GOING TO DIE. The air we breathe is completely toxic and we should all be carrying around gas masks:
Twenty-six of California’s 52 counties with air quality monitoring stations received failing grades. California counties receiving F grades on one or more of the three pollutant lists (in alphabetical order) are: Butte, Calaveras, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Fresno, Imperial, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Nevada, Orange, Placer, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, Santa Clara, Shasta, Stanislaus, Tulare and Ventura.If you need a silver lining in this apocalyptic report, the Lung Association throws us a bone: "California counties also were among the most improved nationwide; for example, 32 counties dropped their year-round particle pollution levels. California’s improvements came while much of the eastern U.S. suffered increases in particle pollution." So while we'll probably all die of lung cancer, emphysema, and asthma at least we won't die of these diseases in Pittsburgh.
· Almost Half of California Counties Fail Clean Air Test-- Los Angeles and Riverside Top National Bad Air List [California Progress Report]
· County Pollution Chart - California [ALA]