By Will Atkinson

When firefighters in Kern County, California, are forced to cancel days off to fight wildfires sparked by more than 734 lightening strikes, that is not good news for residents struggling with asthma. 

Five grass fires burned in July in the county pumping dangerous fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, into the air.  

Protecting lung health isn’t easy in Kern County, home to about 916,000 residents, many who live in its largest city, Bakersfield.  

Nearly 18% of Kern County’s population was diagnosed with asthma in 2019 and 2020, compared with 15.1% of Californian’s population on average, according to the California Department of Public Health. Over the same period 22% of Kern County adults were diagnosed with asthma compared with 16.2% of California on average. 

Kern isn’t the only county with high asthma rates in California or for that matter other parts of the country. The American Lung Association’s 25th annual State of the Air, which was released this past April, reports that 131 million people – nearly 39 percent of the U.S. population – are living in areas plagued by unhealthy levels of air pollution. Where does the big city of Bakersfield rank?  

• No. 1 worst metro area for 24-hour particle pollution. 

• No.1 worst for annual particle pollution. 

• No. 3 worst city in the country for high ozone days. 

In 2017, The Guardian described Bakersfield this way: 

“Oil fields make up most of the view from the top of the bluffs, and the scent of petroleum is often detectable around the city. Dairies populated by hundreds of thousands of cows are scattered throughout the region, and their smell, too, is hard to miss. Massive warehouses and distribution centres on the outskirts of town bring in diesel trucks day and night from Interstate 5, the major north-south route that runs from Canada to Mexico (Los Angeles is about 100 miles to the south). Freight trains hauling oil rumble through the city, and its many refineries billow smoke into the air.” 

The description could be right out of Charles Dickens’s 1859 novel Hard Times where the author describes the fictitious Coketown this way: “It was a town of machinery and tall chimneys, out of which interminable serpents of smoke trailed themselves for ever and ever, and never got uncoiled.”

For Bakersfield asthmatics, inhaling these pollutants can lead to severe asthma attacks, cardiovascular issues, and even lung cancer.  

In addition to industrial, auto, and agricultural pollution, Bakersfield faces seasonal challenges exacerbated by wildfires. As temperatures soar and vegetation dries out, the risk of wildfires igniting increases, blanketing the region in a thick shroud of smoke.  

For asthmatics, this presents a double-edged sword: not only do they contend with the direct effects of smoke inhalation, but they also face heightened levels of particle pollution as ash and soot settle into the atmosphere. Respiratory symptoms flare up, emergency room visits spike, and the pervasive threat of wildfire-induced asthma looms large. 

 “It’s important for residents to know when air quality in their community has deteriorated so they can take steps to protect their health by staying indoors where there’s cool, filtered air,” Maricela Velasquez, San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District’s Outreach & Communications Supervisor, told Bakersfield.com 

What’s concerning is that these hazardous conditions are getting worse. ClimateCheck, an organization that tracks climate risk and its impact on commercial and residential property, reports that Bakersfield is at risk for extreme heat, drought and fire. 

ClimateCheck reports that in a typical year in 1990, Bakersfield experienced about seven days above 104.6ºF in a year. “By 2050, people in Bakersfield are projected to experience an average of about 33 days per year over 104.6ºF.” 

That is no consolation for asthmatics. 

“Climate change is causing more dangerous air pollution,” said Harold Wimmer, President and CEO of the American Lung Association. “Every day that there are unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution means that someone – a child, grandparent, uncle or mother – struggles to breathe. We must do more to ensure everyone has clean air.”