Lets talk Los Angeles Smog Part 1
It is commonly believed that the proliferation of automobiles and the urban sprawl in Los Angeles basin has directly led to the famed smog hovers over the Los Angeles skyline, yet centuries before the invention of the automobile Los Angeles was a 'Smog city' as noted by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo in 1542 when sailing along the Southern California coast, as he approached what would become San Pedro Bay, took note of the haze filling the Los Angeles basin. His observations caused him to aptly call the area La Baia de los Fumos, or "The Bay of Fumes".
Even in the earliest days of human settlement, the air of Los Angeles posed challenges to its inhabitants. This is caused by a meteorological phenomenon known as inversion where hot air traps cool air, this phenomenon has typified the Los Angeles basin since the formation of the basin itself, and if the hundreds of Gabrielino-Tongva Nation the aboriginal tribe of the Los Angeles Basin campfires could generate enough particles to inspire Cabrillo's name "La Baia de los Fumos", future industrialization would obviously pose a problem.
Even in the earliest days of human settlement, the air of Los Angeles posed challenges to its inhabitants. This is caused by a meteorological phenomenon known as inversion where hot air traps cool air, this phenomenon has typified the Los Angeles basin since the formation of the basin itself, and if the hundreds of Gabrielino-Tongva Nation the aboriginal tribe of the Los Angeles Basin campfires could generate enough particles to inspire Cabrillo's name "La Baia de los Fumos", future industrialization would obviously pose a problem.
By the early 20th century Los Angeles, grew in a similar way to other major cities throughout the country. The first two decades of the century saw extensive construction of streetcars as a means of mass transit, yet Los Angeles unlike New York and San Francisco did not take the traditional next step toward elevated or submerged train systems. Following the turn of the 20th century Los Angeles underwent some of its greatest growth, which was later than most other major American cities, By this time the automobile had become prevalent, the fact that LA has delayed development and the Los Angeles urban sprawl meant the automobile was now a viable and attractive alternative to other forms of mass transit.
The Los Angeles heat and sunshine causing meteorological phenomenon which made it such a poor environment for heavy emissions, also made it the perfect place for the early adoption of the car, the density of other cities which limited the number of cars and homes that could accommodate cars in every other major US city were nonexistent in Los Angeles and, as a result, by 1923 there were 430,000 automobiles registered in the city - one car for every three people.
In Part 2 we will explore how Los Angeles took the lead in global initiative to reduce carbon emissions.