I live in Visalia (No. 5 on list two and No. 3 on list three), which is between Fresno (No. 3 on list one, No. 8 on list two and No. 5 on list three) and Bakersfield (No. 4 on list one, No. 3 on list two and No. 2 on list three), and I need to correct a misconception:
The reason the air is so bad here is because the San Joaquin Valley is bounded by the Sierra Nevada on the east and the El Diablos on the west, and they meet in the south, basically forming a very deep basin that is the world's largest valley. When the valley floor heats up an inversion layer forms and the air that's here is trapped. It's not that we're creating more pollution than the rest of you, it's that your pollution is spread to the rest of the world while we have to live in our own filth.
The reason the air is so bad here is because the San Joaquin Valley is bounded by the Sierra Nevada on the east and the El Diablos on the west, and they meet in the south, basically forming a very deep basin that is the world's largest valley. When the valley floor heats up an inversion layer forms and the air that's here is trapped. It's not that we're creating more pollution than the rest of you, it's that your pollution is spread to the rest of the world while we have to live in our own filth.