Air Is Getting Cleaner, AQMD Says

If you’re breathing a little easier this summer, it’s no surprise to the folks at the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

Although the Southland’s smog problems have not entirely blown over, the number of Stage One smog alerts--when ozone reaches .20 parts per million and people are advised to avoid vigorous outdoor activity--has steadily decreased during the last 10 to 15 years, said Joe Cassmassi, an AQMD senior meteorologist.

Stage Two alerts, when ozone reaches .35 p.p.m. and everyone is advised to avoid outdoor activity, have been virtually eliminated. The last Los Angeles Stage Two alert was in 1988. The last San Fernando Valley Stage Two alert was in 1980.

Basinwide, Cassmassi said, Stage One episodes have decreased by about four a year. If that trend continues, he said, Angelenos could witness the end of the Stage One alert by the turn of the century.

“We’ve had an ongoing program of controls that has been in place for several decades now,” Cassmassi said. “That combined with the turnover in the auto fleet toward cleaner cars has been responsible for the improvement we’ve seen to date.”

Last year, which saw no Stage One alerts in Reseda, Burbank, Lancaster and Downtown, was the cleanest year on record, Cassmassi said. The improvements were probably a result of trends in air quality combined with the El Nino weather pattern, which favors cleaner air. This year, without the help of El Nino, AQMD expects anywhere from 30 to 34 Stage One episodes over the course of the smog season, which runs from late May to mid-October.

Stage One Smog Episodes Stage On smog alerts are steadily decreasing in the Los Angeles Basin. There has not been a Stage Two alert sinice 1980. The AQMD predicts an end to the Stage On alert by the end of the century if the trend continues. Note: Several communities had no alerts in 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993. Source: South Coast Air Quality Management District