Air pollution conference held in Downtown Fresno

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The wind is giving us a temporary relief from terrible air quality.

It was actually pretty good all across the Central Valley Saturday, but long term, it's a big problem and some of the country's top scientists are here this weekend to find solutions.

UCSF Fresno hosted an Air Pollution and Climate Change Symposium in Downtown Fresno. Just this week, the American Lung Association gave the Central Valley a failing grade in its State of the Air report.

Climate change projections show the problem getting a lot worse in the not-too-distant future.

"We need to address these problems head on and have strategies planned to help deal with an increase in morbidity and mortality for people who have COPD, asthma and other illnesses," Dr. Jose Joseph-Vempilly with UCSF said.

In the valley, doctors see more people going to the hospital for asthma and COPD when there's high pollution from particulate matter, and also when ozone levels are high.