The Sacramento Bee, Calif. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Aug. 13--Valley and foothill residents in the Sacramento area are enduring one of the longest stretches of unhealthy air in recent years, smog officials said Monday.
The siege of smog has children's sports coaches and summer camp counselors on alert as the worst of the pollution comes during the peak swimming team practice and the start of soccer and football drills.
'Today's a hot day, so we're not going to do a lot of running,' Miguel Guido, an assistant soccer coach, told his Land Park boys team as it lined up for practice Monday afternoon.
Other coaches canceled workouts because of the heat and smog.
Sustained triple-digit temperatures, stagnant air and a strong system of high pressure over the region have combined to cook up high concentrations of smog in the Valley and keep a lid on the brew, from Sacramento to Grass Valley and Placerville, meteorologists said.
The scourge began Thursday when smog levels in Sacramento and western El Dorado counties reached 150 on the Air Quality Index -- unhealthy for sensitive people.
Ozone levels on Saturday, Sunday and Monday reached 174, a level deemed unhealthy for everyone. By state law, smog officials issue health advisories warning people to avoid prolonged periods of vigorous outdoor exercise in the late afternoon and into the evening, when smog levels peak.
The smog is forecast to be just as bad through Thursday, said Kerry Shearer, spokesman for the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District. The high temperature Monday was 105 in Sacramento and triple-digit heat is expected to continue through Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.
On Sunday, the Sacramento area broke a record with its fourth consecutive day of 'unhealthy' air.
The region experienced higher levels of smog in the 1970s through early 1990s, when pollution controls on vehicles and businesses were not as strict. But the episodes typically last hours, not days, Shearer said.
'This is the only time I'm aware of when we have had a smog episode of this length, with numbers this high,' said Shearer, who has been with the air district since 1989.
As of 5 p.m. Monday, ozone levels measured at monitoring stations in Folsom and Sloughhouse in southeastern Sacramento County surpassed the federal health standard, marking the sixth such violation this year -- with 2 1/2 months remaining in the smog season. By comparison, the Sacramento region exceeded the federal ozone standard three times all of last year, Shearer said.
Factors combine to fuel the string of bad-air days.
Higher temperatures accelerate the formation of ozone from tailpipe emissions -- mainly nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons.
The stubborn ridge of high pressure over the area pushes air down. The compression heats the air, forming a thermal lid over the cooler air below.
This 'inversion layer' traps pollutants close to the ground, and the lack of wind ensures the smog will remain.
Shearer said the thermal lid was evident in the change of sky color from a hue of tea to clear as he flew over the Valley on Friday.
'It seemed you could see a very distinct line above 3,000 feet,' Shearer said.
Much of the day's pollution is carrying over to the following day, especially in the foothills, when ozone lingers throughout the night and early morning, said Charlie Knoderer, a meteorologist with Sonoma Technology Inc, a consultant for the Sacramento air district.
'Yesterday's pollution is added to today's,' Knoderer said.
The spate of smog heightens concerns among parents and coaches because of studies showing children's respiratory systems are more vulnerable than adults to ozone.
In addition, a recent study by the University of Southern California showed that children who routinely compete in vigorous sports on smoggy days are three times more likely to get asthma than their nonathletic peers.
Schools and sports leagues are getting the message as the air district steps up its 'spare-the-air' broadcasts on days predicted to be smoggy.
'If we have poor air quality for our sports with youth, we postpone or cancel the event,' said Rick Hormann, a youth sports coordinator for Folsom's Parks and Recreation Department. 'We're not going to put kids in danger.'
El Dorado Hills makes the call depending on the temperature, which is typically linked to smog, said Matt Lishman, a recreation supervisor with the El Dorado Hills Community Services District, who canceled a T-ball game last month.
'It was hard to breathe,' said Lishman, noting it was 112 degrees that day.
SPARE THE AIR
Active children and adults, and people with respiratory diseases such as asthma, should avoid prolonged outdoor exertion. Everyone else, especially children, should limit prolonged outdoor exertion.
Things you can do to Spare The Air:
--Eliminate all vehicle trips
--Use public transit whenever possible
--Carpool with friends or co-workers
--Eliminate the use of gasoline-powered yard tools
--Postpone errand
--Bicycle or walk in the morning before air quality hits unhealthy levels
--Work from home instead of driving to work if your employer is supportive
On the Web
--To monitor current air quality conditions, visit www.sparetheair.com .
Source: Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District
By Chris Bowman and Alicia Roca
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(c) 2002, The Sacramento Bee, Calif. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
