After a rough year for smog throughout Southern California, burn bans have been put into effect across the lower half of the state in an attempt to avoid adding more pollutants to already overloaded air. Outlawing all home burning except in homes that require wood to burn for fuel, no-burn days are enforced in California whenever the level of pollution in the air is expected to reach 30 micrograms per cubic meter over the course of 24 hours.
While Southern California has a long history of hosting some of the thickest smog in the nation, the air quality has been steadily improving due to environmental regulations. However, this year has been one of the worst on record for smog due to the long dry spells the state has been experiencing since last winter. Dry spells lead to a phenomenon called a temperature inversion, where cool, polluted air is trapped near the ground by a stifling layer of hotter air pressing down from above. The state has also been having more problems than usual with ozone gas, which forms when certain chemicals are allowed to "cook" in hot, dry weather, and can cause damage to the lungs. In October alone, there were seven days when the ozone level in the South Coast air basin exceeded federal standards.
No one is feeling the effects of this year's poor air quality quite like asthma sufferers. ""It feels like a weight on my chest, and I know I'm not the only one," said Pati Calzada, a college student and asthma sufferer, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.
If you live in Southern California and are looking for a way to fight the ill effects of poor air quality, consider purchasing a home air purifier. At US Air Purifiers, we are experts in air quality and will help you find the air purifier that best suits your needs.