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Comment on I feel stupid asking this. But cities and countries who have smog and a major amount of air pollution. Why doesn't the wind blow it away or move it overtime? Is there that much pollution?

BlameThePeacock@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

A) The wind DOES blow it around, here’s a really cool map that shows the realtime winds and smog patches.

www.iqair.com/ca/air-quality-map?srsltid=AfmBOooO…

B) Most of the smog in an area has been recently produced by the pollution source (factory, power planet, forest fire, cars, etc) it’s not building up over a very long time, usually a few days at most if the winds are really light.

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FireRetardant@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
There are also weather conditions that reduce air flow, sometimes for days at a time, where very little wind blows and a bubble of air keeps a lot of the pollution over the city.

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- Fermion@feddit.nl ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Salt Lake City is a notable example of a spot where cold air gets trapped by the surrounding topography in the winter.
  
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Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Good map!

You’re getting an unusual pattern in Southern California right now though. Usually our winds blow from the ocean, forming an inversion layer and trapping smog over the Los Angeles Basin as they hit the mountains. But atm the southeasterly Santa Ana Winds are pushing the smoke from the fires (which they exacerbated) out to sea.

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