California Wildfires Have Devastating Effect on Air Quality in Nearby Cities

The 2021 World Air Quality Report presents an overview of the state of global air quality in 2021. According to a data analysis, nine of the ten most polluted cities in the United States are in California. The graph to the left presents each CA city's air quality index over the year.

While these California cities have good air quality scores throughout most of the year, they increase simultaneously to a dangerous pollution level throughout the months of July and September.

Here’s how the air quality in these CA cities compares to NYC and LA.

California went through extreme pollution events during an increasingly long and extreme fire season. In 2021, the Dixie fire became the second-largest fire in acres burned in California history. Most of the top polluted cities were within or in great proximity to the Dixie fire which burned across multiple counties

To be continued... :)