Over the summer, warm ocean waters from the strengthening El Niño sent several tropical storms to Southern California, helping reduce smog across the region.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District said Southern California had 83 days over the summer where ozone exceeded federal health standards, down from 92 days in 2014. Meteorologist Joe Cassmassi told the Los Angeles Times the rain flushed out pollution at a time when hot, stagnant weather ordinarily pushes ozone to its highest levels. If this El Niño is as strong as the El Niño of 1982-83, Cassmassi said, more rainstorms will cause less bad air days over the winter and next summer. During that El Niño season, he added, "ozone values dipped precipitously."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Trump’s poll collapse: can he stop the slide?Talking Point President who promised to ease cost-of-living has found that US economic woes can’t be solved ‘via executive fiat’
-
Sudoku hard: December 7, 2025The daily hard sudoku puzzle from The Week
-
Codeword: December 7, 2025The daily codeword puzzle from The Week
-
Death toll from Southeast Asia storms tops 1,000speed read Catastrophic floods and landslides have struck Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia
-
Hurricane Melissa slams Jamaica as Category 5 stormSpeed Read The year’s most powerful storm is also expected to be the strongest ever recorded in Jamaica
-
Renewables top coal as Trump seeks reversalSpeed Read For the first time, renewable energy sources generated more power than coal, said a new report
-
China vows first emissions cut, sidelining USSpeed Read The US, the world’s No. 2 emitter, did not attend the New York summit
-
At least 800 dead in Afghanistan earthquakespeed read A magnitude 6.0 earthquake hit a mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan
-
Massive earthquake sends tsunami across PacificSpeed Read Hundreds of thousands of people in Japan and Hawaii were told to evacuate to higher ground
-
FEMA Urban Search and Rescue chief resignsSpeed Read Ken Pagurek has left the organization, citing 'chaos'
-
Wildfires destroy historic Grand Canyon lodgeSpeed Read Dozens of structures on the North Rim have succumbed to the Dragon Bravo Fire
