Jones Valley and Red Mountain make up the natural geography of Jefferson County. According to Jennifer Rahn, a geography professor at Samford University, the descending warm air coming from the mountains creates a sort of lid over the valley, trapping the pollutants beneath it.

 

The emissions from the tailpipes and the soot and coal dust from the smokestacks of burning coal were in the valley to stay.

The smog they created settled on window sills and front porches, and were washed off of cars and white shirts daily, according to bhamnow.com

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Nearly 100 years after the birth of the Magic City, the Smoke City was begin to suffocate. The Clean Air Act of 1963, established a federal program within the U.S. Public Health Service and authorized research into techniques for monitoring and controlling air pollution was not enacted in Birmingham. Citizens were ready for a breath of fresh air. Young professionals and students of GASP, the Greater Alliance to Stop Pollution, were protesting and calling the local government to act.

 

The state’s Clean Air Act was passed in 1971, thanks in large part to GASP, however progress in air quality was not made until later that year when Birmingham had a scare.

 

The air quality alert level is 365 micrograms of particles per cubic meter.  That November, weather conditions were changing and the industries were churning stronger than before, causing the air to become a lethal 771 micrograms of particles per cubic meter.

 

Federal District Judge Sam Point took action, calling for 23 major smokestacks to voluntarily stop operations until the air became breathable again. From that point on, the steel industry started on a steady decline, decrease particle count, and relatively increasing breathability.