Taking the top spot, California’s largest wildfire is the August Complex Fire that blazed through the Mendocino National Forest, burning 846,812 acres by late September. 3 Several wildfires made the ranking for worst in state history. In 2020, California hit a grim milestone, surpassing 3 million burned acres for the year – an area larger than the state of Connecticut. Years 2017, 2018, and 2020 all had more severe wildfire seasons and higher PM2.5 averages as a result.
2 By all accounts, however, 2019 was a mild year for wildfires. This dramatic gain in ambient PM2.5 coincides with the Kincade Fire, the largest fire of the year, which burned 77,758 acres in Sonoma County by November 6. In 2019, November was Santa Cruz’s most polluted month, averaging a PM2.5 concentration of 12.9 μg/m 3 – more than 2 times the average of all other months (5.7 μg/m 3). Santa Cruz County experiences an average of 5.2 unhealthy PM2.5 days a year, while the US EPA targets no more than 3.2. During the 2016 to 2018 monitoring period, the only air quality parameter Santa Cruz failed to meet was the federal allowance for short-term PM2.5 pollution. Santa Cruz’s most polluted days are often attributable to wildfires. Are the wildfires affecting Santa Cruz air quality? Santa Cruz County, which stands at roughly 4 times the population of Santa Cruz itself, has 22,188 residents with asthma, 25,924 with heart and lung disease, 52,852 children under the age of 18, and 45,127 over the age of 65 who are considered at-risk for “orange” air pollution days. After this threshold, air quality is deemed “unhealthy for sensitive groups” and more acutely impacts adults over 65, children under 18, and those with pre-existing heart and lung conditions. While the WHO warns that no level of air pollution has been shown to be free of health effects, most can remain healthy by taking action when Santa Cruz’s AQI exceeds 101. Checking Santa Cruz live air quality data is paramount to making informed decisions to reduce pollution exposure. While Santa Cruz frequently experiences ozone highs of “moderate,” it only experiences an average of 0.3 days a year that dip into “unhealthy for sensitive groups” levels or worse.īreathing polluted air can cause long-term consequences, including heart and lung disease, cancer, and early death. Ozone is another pollutant of concern for the city, though levels have been within federal attainment since monitoring began in 1996. From 2016 to 2018, there was an average of 5.2 days deemed unhealthy for PM2.5 pollution in Santa Cruz, exceeding the federal allowance of 3.2 days. In recent years, wildfires have created strings of unhealthy PM2.5 air pollution that last days and even weeks. Santa Cruz did not, however, meet federal requirements for short-term or 24-hour PM2.5. In 2017, 2018, and 2019, annual PM2.5 concentrations were 7.5 μg/m 3, 8.5 μg/m 3, and 6.5 μg/m 3, respectively, thus meeting the US standard of 12 μg/m 3 as well as the more stringent World Health Organization (WHO) standard of 10 μg/m 3. Santa Cruz averages healthy PM2.5 concentrations overall.
PM2.5 sources include fossil fuel combustion (such as in motor vehicles and industry), wood burning, wildfires, and windblown dust from agricultural or construction sites, among numerous others. Due to the microscopic size of these particles, they are able to penetrate deep into the lungs and become absorbed into the body’s circulatory system, causing widespread damage. While daily emissions and resulting air quality measurements in Santa Cruz are relatively low, periods of short-term PM2.5 and ozone pollution can contribute to unhealthy air.įine particulate matter, or PM2.5, describes airborne particles with a wide variety of chemical makeups and sources that measure 2.5 micrometers in diameter or smaller. Air quality here is generally considered healthy, owing to the city’s moderate climate, ocean-side location, relatively small population of roughly 70,000, and sparse industrial activity. Santa Cruz is a coastal city located on the northern edge of Monterey Bay. What is the air quality in Santa Cruz right now?
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