So, Salt Lake is in the running for the Winter Olympics in 2034. But they’re all worried about the winter inversion (which we had in 2002 when we last hosted the Olympics, it just happened to clear up the day before the opening ceremonies). Our particulate pollution is so bad right now, the air is unhealthy even for people in good shape. The inversion traps all the smog and pollution in our valley for days at a time.

Much of the events will be at ski resorts above the inversion, but the athletes in the valley will have to bring inhalers and/or particle masks with them. Pollution will be even more greatly amplified by the polluting port that salt lake is opening soon.