A blog about Health & Wellness and Kern County.
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Tired of Bad Air? Court Slams Air District Outrageous Cost to Health Ozone Season Finally Over New Paradigm for Fuel Use Two More Days of Hell Three Days of Hell Air Quality Worse Than Ever Dust is in the Air Criminal Behavior by Air District November 07 December 07 January 08 February 08 March 08 April 08 May 08 June 08 July 08 August 08 September 08 October 08 November 08 
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No Improvement This Year
There are many ways to compare air quality from year to year. One way is to look at "good" days vs. "very unhealthy" days which are the extremes in our air quality forecasts. Last summer (June 22 to September 22, 2007) we had zero days of "Very Unhealthy" air in the San Joaquin Valley. That is code "purple" when you are advised to not go outside unless absolutely necessary. We also had nine days of "good" quality air during the same time which is as good as living at Pismo Beach. This summer we had five days of the "very unhealthy" days, and we didn't experience our first days of "good" air until the last two days of the summer which was this past weedend. Give thanks for every "good" day. My lungs feel refreshed for the first time in three months. Harvest Time is Choke Time
When the mega dairies start harvesting the corn fields for silage the resulting truck traffic on country roads is really scary. The dust billows and the old trucks are belching diesel pollution. Add the coinciding almond harvest and the dusty haze starts to bring visibility down to less than a mile throughout the valley. Of course, our air district says we do not have a dust problem. By ignoring several violations of the federal standard the past couple years and by only having PM 10 monitors in Fresno and Corcoran we don't really get the true picture of this kind of dust pollution and our wonderful EPA has approved the claim that there is no dust problem in the San Joaquin Valley. The pictures are all taken this morning around 11 am.
Ozone Levels Damage Young Lungs
There is no doubt that Wednesday's afternoon ozone levels were very unhealthy in Kern County. Yet, were any cross country meets cancelled? Today and tomorrow will also be in the high unhealthy range for ozone pollution. Will any football games be postponed until Saturday morning instead of being played at the worst time of the day on Friday afternoon and early evening? Our Air District (Brenda Turner) needs to tell Athletic Commissioner Jim Crichlow to get out the stick and start protecting the health of our youth. They should also get the Superintendent of Schools involved. Why is the decision to protect the lungs of kids left up to individual schools? |
