“Pollution can really juice up a sunset.” Cameron Hewitt · Atmosphere with Emily Gracey
September 2026
Hewitt was answering a question about whether poor air quality makes for better sunsets, and admitted he had nearly put pollution on his list of ingredients for a good one. He goes on to describe Seattle's wildfire-smoke days, when the sun turns an unnaturally bright red. He calls it a fine line: a little particulate in the air improves a sunset, too much makes it creepy.
Transcript
Yeah, other spots in the U.S. include the Oregon Coast. My folks live down there and we've just had some incredible sunsets there. Again, it helps. You think the Pacific Northwest is cloudy, which maybe makes it less appealing for a beach break during the day, but the clouds in the evening make for some really fantastic sunsets. And where I live here in Seattle, we're kind of an interesting situation because we do have water, but we also have the Olympic Mountains that are between us and the ocean. So we get some great sunsets, but you don't get to see the sun actually dipping below the horizon in the water like you would on the Oregon coast. So I would say Seattle's kind of a mixed bag. San Diego has great sunsets. Of course, you mentioned Key West has great sunsets. And I'm from, originally was born in Denver. I grew up in Ohio, but I was born in Denver. And so I'm a lifelong Denver Broncos fan. And I think there's something about it's where the plains meet the mountains. And there's something about the quality of light there that I know Denver and I've seen some of them is really, really famous for some spectacular sunsets. And in fact, as a Denver Broncos fan, you may know our colors are blue and orange. Orange is one of our big colors. And I have a bumper sticker since I was a kid. And I think it says, if God is not a Broncos fan, why are sunsets orange? So I think in Denver, they actually make it sort of, it's part of the football identity and the city identity, these beautiful bright orange sunsets. So I think Denver is another great place for sunsets.
Okay. I wonder if, does pollution help? You know, we talked about clouds. I wonder if like air quality, like poor air quality tends to actually make for some pretty cool sunsets.
Yeah. And I was thinking about this and I was listening, what are the best features for sunsets? And I, I kind of, unfortunately, I almost put that on the list because yeah, it is true. Pollution can really juice up a sunset. It can bring out more colors. It can bring out more of the oranges and the blue and the bright reds. You know, here in Seattle, we're one of the parts of the country where we're getting more and more wildfire smoke, especially in the late summer, like often in August, we have a couple of days where the air quality is not healthy. And boy, on those days, it's a different kind of sunset, though, right? Like we go out for a walk sometimes and the air quality is not getting, it's getting into the danger zone. And the sun, it almost looks like you're at Star Wars on tattooing, right? You have this bright red sun that just doesn't almost look natural. And so I'd say it's a fine line. Yeah. Like pollution in the air can kind of, it's almost like if somebody takes a photograph, but then they play with the colors a little too much and it starts to look unnatural. And I think a little bit of particles in the air can, I guess, improve a sunset, but too much, it starts to get kind of creepy.
I've got one in the U.S. to add to your list that I love. It's where I live, Charleston, South Carolina. And I know it's on the East Coast, but hear me out. So we often, especially in the summer, get these afternoon thunderstorms, but they clear out by sunset. So there's a lot of clouds in the sky. And then also because of the way the coastline is, it's not really facing east. It's in some parts almost facing west. And so if you're on the beach or if you're close to the water, you're not looking at the sun going down behind you necessarily. It's kind of at an angle, at that angle we were talking about, where you can get some really good pictures. So I think like, even with all my world travels, I think like here is where I've enjoyed some really surprising great sunsets.
Yeah, I think you're exactly right. And I think you just just also described a perfect recipe for a sunset. It's it's not a perfectly clear day. It's a cloudy day and the rain, you know, I've been in places like that where you get the afternoon kind of thunderstorm that cleans out the humidity. That also is great for sunsets, right? Because you have the big clouds, but you're getting all that kind of haze out. So you get a nice, strong, crisp light. Crisp,
yeah,