Monterey County seeing cleanest air in decades, as shelter-in-place continues

(KION) The air we breathe on the Central Coast is usually fantastic. But right now, it’s getting even better. The shelter-in-place order has changed the air quality in Monterey County for the better. It's a small silver lining.

Richard Stedman with the Monterey Bay Air Resources District says we're seeing some of the cleanest air in decades, as there are fewer cars on the road.

With fewer people on the streets and less cars on the highways, there’s less pollutants getting into the air. “Automobiles account for about 70 percent of our air pollution problem,” says Stedman.

Stedman says we may see an elevation in air pollution as we head into summer months when ozone season begins. With sunlight and elevated temperatures come elevated pollution.

Stedman says should the shelter-in-place continue, we may see some major differences in quality of air.

"We could see what the air quality will look like if we move to a zero-emission transportation system.," says Stedman.