LA Had 'Some Of The Best Air Quality In The World' This Earth Day
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — With fewer cars on the road and unexpected amounts of Spring rain, Earth Day 2020 was one of the most gorgeous the Southland has seen in years.
Flowers were blooming, skies were blue, and the air was clear.
"We saw that L.A. had some of the cleanest air quality in the world," said Glory Dolphin Hammes, CEO of IQ Air, a tech company that tracks global air quality.
"About a year ago, Los Angeles was ranked the worst air quality in the entire country- and now we're seeing some of the best air quality in the world."
The coronavirus pandemic's Safer-at-Home order has taken about 80 percent of cars off local roads.
"We've been having clean air all over California for several weeks now," said Bill Magavern the Policy Director for Coalition for Clean Air. "That's partly because of the weather we had and the other main reason is the severe drop off in traffic because of the Stay-at-Home orders."
"I'm hoping when we come out of the pandemic, that we will be able to make the changes necessary, so we can have clean air all the time."
One other change with people staying in- more wild animals coming out.
Safer-at-Home canceled big Earth Day events. Instead, people were streaming activities online.
Magavern said most of California's pollution comes from auto traffic. He thinks drivers should have more options, that are safe and convenient, so they don't always have to get behind the wheel.
