[singpilot]

Legion!

I grew up in SoCal. I almost hate to admit it, but the smog you and I remember is pretty much gone. There are still days when some weather trend (inversion, and a lack of wind) trap pockets of bad air in local areas, but nothing like the old days.

Have been sailing on Santa Monica Bay all my life, and it has gone from a cold dead bay (no signs of life, lots of floating trash and debris) to being fully alive again. Large schools of fish, and the porpoises and whales that follow. The only signs of trash now are for a few days after a gully-washer rain (11 days a year) and you'll see whatever was in the street gutters that is small enough to get past the screens in the concrete-lined rivers that empty into the bay. That washes up on the beaches, and is 'groomed' by the cities that keep their beaches clean.

You'd be amazed.