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Skyscrapers
The megalopolis of New York City is so vast that it directly affects local weather patterns. Buildings and pavement store heat, creating a bubble of warm air around the city. Skyscrapers, like jagged mountain peaks, force air over and around them. Cool breezes that might normally refresh the air never make it to the heart of the city. In summer, pollution can become especially intense, as nighttime temperatures remain warm and the air stagnates inside the city's heat envelope.
Flat Lands
Level plains or plateaus allow air to move freely. Without valleys to create inversion layers, the atmosphere over flat land is refreshed quickly and efficiently most of the time. Areas of western New York near the Great Lakes experience overall better air quality than New York City, for example. Weather patterns in New York generally move west to east. Locally produced pollution is blown with the winds, leaving relatively clearer air behind.
Ocean
In some respects, the ocean has the same effect on air pollution as flat land. Air moves unimpeded over open water, bringing refreshing onshore breezes that clear the air. The ocean water also contributes a coolness to the air, which is quite pleasant on hot summer days. A strong ocean breeze can push stagnant, dirty air up and out of the way. The collision between sea air and land air can even generate thunderstorms, which can precipitate pollution and dust out of the atmosphere.
Mountains
Mountainous terrain amplifies air pollution in a couple of ways. First, valleys often experience a phenomenon called a temperature inversion, where cool air becomes trapped under a layer of warmer air. Pollution accumulates in this cool pocket, leading to decreased air quality. A second factor is that mountains tend to squeeze moisture out of the atmosphere as precipitation. In the Adirondacks of New York, particles of sulfur and other pollutants create acid rain that stresses trees and other plant life.