LOS ANGELES — Within just a few years, California endured its driest three-year period on record and its hottest September in history — a brutal summer month that nearly broke the state's overtaxed electric grid.
Now, new research suggests that the hardships inflicted by those events may be more widespread than previously thought. Drought and extreme heat also worsened air pollution for low-income and non-white communities throughout California, researchers say, further degrading health in neighborhoods that have long struggled with environmental inequities.
When electricity demands skyrocket during extreme heat waves and drought reduces water availability for hydropower production, power systems depend more on fossil fuels to meet energy needs and avoid rolling blackouts. The result is an increase in emissions of greenhouse gasses, sulfur dioxide, fine particulate matter and nitrogen oxides, study authors say.
