The smoggy top 10
Are you one of the 1/3 of Americans who live in a smoggy city? Smog -- a heavy, dark fog primarily composed of ozone -- can trigger asthma symptoms, cause coughing, chest pain, wheezing, or even premature death. The top 10 smoggiest cities are:- Los Angeles, CA. The air quality is slowing improving in LA, but, on average, it still has 90 days per year with unhealthy ozone levels.
- Bakersfield, CA. Bakersfield has an average of 83 days with unhealthy ozone levels each year, as well as other air quality issues.
- Visalia, CA. Lying near Sequoia National Forest, Visalia has an average of 68 high ozone days per year.
- Houston, TX. Nearly 400,000 Houston residents have asthma -- a condition that can be exacerbated by the city's average of 36 unhealthy ozone days per year.
- Fresno, CA. In 2000, Fresno had 87 unhealthy ozone days. Now, the city is averaging only 34 unhealthy ozone days per year -- still high enough to land it in the top 10, but amazing progress.
- Sacramento, CA. The fifth city from California's Central Valley to make the list, Sacramento has an average of 25 unhealthy ozone days per year.
- Dallas, TX. Dallas has an average of 22 unhealthy ozone days per year.
- New York, NY. With such a constant flow of traffic, it's almost surprising that New York doesn't have more than an average of 12 unhealthy ozone days per year.
- Washington DC/Baltimore. Our capitol region has an average of 11 unhealthy ozone days per year.
- Baton Rouge, LA. Baton Rouge averages 11 unhealthy ozone days per year.
Gallery: The smoggiest cities in the US
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