Air pollution in the Salt Lake and Utah Valleys reaches detrimental levels, exacerbated by the geography of the area. Though pollution often results in hazardous conditions for the state's citizens, various realistic solutions can alleviate the situation.
Air Pollution
It’s not uncommon to have multiple Utah cities taking the top spots on the Environmental Protection Agency’s ranking of U.S. cities with the most unhealthy air quality. The extreme pollution affects multiple demographics, from the young and elderly to those with respiratory conditions; it can even affect the healthiest of Utah residents. Many cities in Utah are among the top ten U.S. cities for “worst acute spikes in air pollution.”
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| Utah Department of Environmental Quality |
Inversion
Why is the pollution so bad in Utah? There are a lot of variables in Utah's geography that exacerbate the pollution issues in Utah. The most consequential factor is a phenomenon referred to as inversion. In normal weather, the warmest air is near the earth’s surface, with gradually cooler air rising from that point. But in the winter, the mountains surrounding Utah’s valleys create a bowl, where a layer of cold air gets trapped beneath a layer of warm air. This warm air acts like a lid, trapping the cold air and all the pollution in the valley. The conditions will remain as such until a big storm disperses that ‘lid.'
