Yifang Zhu in The Bakersfield Californian — Los Angeles suffers worst smog in almost 30 years

Lung-damaging ozone pollution in Los Angeles reached its highest levels in a generation and set records in other parts of Southern California during the blistering Labor Day weekend heat wave, air quality readings show.  “The combination of a major wildfire and extreme heat can really send ozone levels through the roof,” said Yifang Zhu, a professor of environmental health sciences at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. “Both are important, and they came together at a very unfortunate time, and that helps explain why we were seeing such extreme levels of ozone last weekend.