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| West View - Beyond Yosemite Valley into the Central Valley | |
  f you imagine the view looking West from 1,000 feet above your head, on a clear day you can see all the way into California's Great Central Valley, where much of the country's fresh fruits and vegetables are grown. Unfortunately, the Central Valley is also home to approximately 4.5 million people.  Air pollution from the Central Valley mixes with air pollution from the San Francisco Bay Area and is transported on the winds into the Sierra everyday. On many days, the view from our imagined vantage point is very disappointing, as if the entire Central Valley is covered by a shroud of dirty air pollution.
 Yosemite NP monitors air quality and biological effects of air pollution in the park. Turtleback Dome, a few miles west of Glacier Point, is an important monitoring site for ground level ozone, visibility reducing particles, particulate matter, and acid deposition.
 Biological effects data show that Ponderosa (occurring between 4,500 and 5,000 feet elevation) and Jeffrey pines (occurring between 6,000 and 9,000 feet elevation) are very sensitive to ozone concentrations above 60 parts per billion. The park's ozone monitoring network has documented several times that the park has exceeded the California State ozone standard of 90 parts per million, and projections show the park will likely exceed the new federal ozone standard as well. Yosemite is participating in Project FOREST, the Forest Ozone Response Study, where biological-effects data collected show Ponderosa pines in Yosemite are being adversely impacted by ozone air pollution.
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