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."
Subscribe to 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.
-
'Although deepfake porn is a global problem, South Korea has been hit particularly hard'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
The deadliest plane crashes in US historyThe Explainer American Eagle Flight 5342 was the first deadly U.S. passenger crash since 2009
-
How Elon Musk is transforming American governmentTalking Points Trump's ally is moving 'with lightning speed'
-
Rain helps Los Angeles wildfires, risks mudslidesSpeed Read The weather provided relief for crews working to contain wildfires, though rain over a burn area ups the chances of flooding and mudslides
-
Death toll rises in LA fires as wind lull allows progressSpeed Read At least 24 people have died and 100,000 people are under mandatory evacuation orders
-
Biden cancels Italy trip as raging LA fires spreadSpeed Read The majority of the fires remain 0% contained
-
Fast-spreading Los Angeles wildfires spark panicSpeed Read About 30,000 people were under an evacuation order as the inferno spread
-
Hundreds feared dead in French Mayotte cycloneSpeed Read Cyclone Chido slammed into Mayotte, a French territory in the Indian Ocean
-
Thirteen missing after Red Sea tourist boat sinksSpeed Read The vessel sank near the Egyptian coastal town of Marsa Alam
-
Global plastics summit starts as COP29 endsSpeed Read Negotiators gathering in South Korea seek an end to the world's plastic pollution crisis, though Trump's election may muddle the deal
-
Biden visits Amazon, says climate legacy irreversibleSpeed Read Nobody can reverse America's 'clean energy revolution,' said the president, despite the incoming Trump administration's promises to dismantle climate policies
