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Scientists at UC San Diego, San Diego State University and colleagues find that extreme heat and elevated ozone levels, often jointly present during California summers, affect certain ZIP codes more than others.
Those areas across the state most adversely affected tend to be poorer areas with greater numbers of unemployed people and more car traffic. The science team based this finding on data about the elevated numbers of people sent to the hospital for pulmonary distress and respiratory infections in lower-income ZIP codes.
The study identified hotspots throughout the Central Valley, areas of San Diego County east of downtown San Diego, and places like San Bernardino, where Los Angeles basin smog is often trapped by surrounding mountain ranges, among others.