A temperature inversion layer, which leads to the accumulation of particulants beneath it - smog, looking out over Los Angeles, California. The Griffith Observatory is situated upon a hill overlooking the city of Los Angeles. The brown L.A. haze is not perpetual, but was quite evident the day I happened upon this location.
It's interesting, in a paradoxical sort of way, to consider the causes for that dirty air. Quite simply, it's people... take away the people, and the smog would not be there. Yes, the temperature inversion layer would still occur, but man-made pollutants would not be dumped into it. On the other hand, one of the reasons that so many people live in the southern California basin, is that there are plenty of opportunities to make a living (another reason is the climate - the photo above being taken in the middle of January with the temperature in the mid 70s).
Many of the people who live here have come here because there is virtually no opportunity to provide for their family from where they come from. So, is the smog a necessary environmental evil?
- photograph © 2007 A. R. Lopez
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