Aaron Rendon - Super Blog 3

 


Source: Turco, Richard P. Earth Under Siege: From Air Pollution To Global Change. Oxford University Press, 2002. 

The first series of photos I decided to work with includes three separate figures that describe how Los Angeles’ unique topography has an affect on the collection of smog in the area. The source I got it from is Richard P. Turco’s book “Earth Under Siege”. The figures do a good job of explaining through visuals, even without a direct explanation. However, in short, people get out of bed in the morning to go to work. This releases tons of air pollution in the air from the cars moving out and about. As the day goes on, the sun goes higher in the sky, and the sea breeze grows stronger, spreading the smog throughout, and pushing it against the mountains. This traps the pollution from escaping, which is the cause of Los Angeles’s notoriously dreadful air pollution.

This next photo was taken by Ira Guldner and is from the Associated Press. This photo adds a lot for two reasons. For one, it shows the immense amount of smog in the background of the photograph, which is almost made to look worse and more visible by the sunlight shining on it. For another, it shows the man rightfully wiping tears due to the smog having such an effect on the air quality. This was a far too common occurrence in the years surrounding the establishment of the Los Angeles Air Pollution Control District. It’s difficult to imagine, but before there was a clear cut establishment of Air Pollution Control smog was significantly worse than the ugly clouds we can see above Los Angeles from afar. 

Source: Ira Guldner, Associated Press, https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/AirPollution1954/65438940a509466dafb83e3eb04bdd14/photo?Query=los%20angeles%20smog&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=70&currentItemNo=7


My last photo, while uncredited, originally comes from the Los Angeles Times. However, I found it on the website for the Associated Press. This photo shows another common occurrence; a man wearing a gas mask for the same reason as the man wiping his tears. In fact, this photo was taken at a protest for workers who were arguing against uncomfortable working conditions due to the smog. Despite this fact, wearing gas masks was not at all limited to protests. Wearing gas masks was at times a necessary discomfort in order for people to have the ability to breathe comfortably.

Source: Los Angeles Times, via Associated Press, https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/FogAndSmog/8cd1e71c0bc4463cb15452e232ead08b/photo?Query=los%20angeles%20smog&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=70&currentItemNo=1

Comments

  1. Jose Chavez-HerediaMarch 2, 2021 at 11:46 PM

    Hi Aaron, your first set of pictures are helpful for people seeing your blog so they can know how these type of pollutants come. The next two pictures show how harmful and unhealthy pollutants can be. Looking forward to seeing your final blog.

    ReplyDelete

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