In a sense, yeah. Inversions have been happening since the mountains have been formed — it’s a natural phenomenon where the cold air gets trapped below the blanket of clouds you see, and the warm air gets trapped above.

That said, when the blanket of clouds is the dark grey or brown we have been seeing, pollution comes into play with 2.5 micro somethin molecules.

So yes, in a sense, if everybody rode a bike to work and all the industries in the valley stopped running machines for a week, all you would see over the valley is (likely) a white blanket of clouds.

While the future is always hopeful, and there are already policies in effect for industries that treat pollution output like stock (buy and sell your ability to pollute), efficiently reducing pollution, it is very very difficult for everyone to just cut their pollution output due to a variety of factors (suburban spread, commutes, necessity to profit). I definitely think there could be more subsidies in place for those who do cut their pollution, but for now, we’re stuck in an endless cycle of smoker’s cough every winter.