--- title: Southern California's Air Quality Improves, Cancer Risk Down description: A new study says that cancer-causing pollutants have dropped more than 50% canonical: https://time.com/3457921/good-news-southern-california-the-smog-is-going-away/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-02T23:56:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T10:33:55.752Z article:section: Science og:title: Southern California's Air Quality Improves, Cancer Risk Down og:description: A new study says that cancer-causing pollutants have dropped more than 50% og:url: https://time.com/3457921/good-news-southern-california-the-smog-is-going-away/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9516877d13571c6f/6986a6cd810bbba4e2c93c36/southern-california-a_dock.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Snow covered San Gabriel Mountains rise behind the downtown Los Angeles skyline on Dec. 27, 2012. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Southern California's Air Quality Improves, Cancer Risk Down twitter:description: A new study says that cancer-causing pollutants have dropped more than 50% twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9516877d13571c6f/6986a6cd810bbba4e2c93c36/southern-california-a_dock.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Good News, Southern California: The Smog Is Going Away > Sponsored content. 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It reaches 40,000 subscribers with a 34.2% open rate and a 2.1% click rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Oct 2, 2014 11:56 PM UTC  Snow covered San Gabriel Mountains rise behind the downtown Los Angeles skyline on Dec. 27, 2012. Snow covered San Gabriel Mountains rise behind the downtown Los Angeles skyline on Dec. 27, 2012.Nick Ut—AP  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Oct 2, 2014 11:56 PM UTC Southern California’s air quality is [getting better](http://news.yahoo.com/cancer-risk-southern-california-air-declining-173636134.html), according to a study released Thursday. Cancer-causing pollutants have dropped over 50% on average since 2005, the last time the South Coast Air Quality Management District checked air quality extensively. Efforts to reduce emissions from diesel trucks and other vehicles can account for a great deal of the drop. California residents may have noticed the positive effects of such endeavors in the sky: smog rarely browns out the mountains in the region now. Though the air is getting healthier overall, small pockets in the region still contain many toxic pollutants, including the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and areas near freeways. And the risks for cancer because of pollutants in the air are still some of the highest in the nation, according to the Associated Press. \[[_AP_](http://news.yahoo.com/cancer-risk-southern-california-air-declining-173636134.html)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3457921/good-news-southern-california-the-smog-is-going-away/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3457921/good-news-southern-california-the-smog-is-going-away/"},"headline":"Good News, Southern California: The Smog Is Going Away","datePublished":"2014-10-02T23:56:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:33:55.752Z","description":"A new study says that cancer-causing pollutants have dropped more than 50%","url":"https://time.com/3457921/good-news-southern-california-the-smog-is-going-away/","keywords":["Environment"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9516877d13571c6f/6986a6cd810bbba4e2c93c36/southern-california-a_dock.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9516877d13571c6f/6986a6cd810bbba4e2c93c36/southern-california-a_dock.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Snow covered San Gabriel Mountains rise behind the downtown Los Angeles skyline on Dec. 27, 2012.","caption":"Snow covered San Gabriel Mountains rise behind the downtown Los Angeles skyline on Dec. 27, 2012.","creditText":"Nick Ut—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/environment/","name":"Environment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3457921/good-news-southern-california-the-smog-is-going-away/","name":"Good News, Southern California: The Smog Is Going Away"}}]}] ```