Breathing Risk

Pollution Rises Across the U.S.

In the U.S., air pollution in general worsened markedly across the country between 2015 and 2017, probably due to rising tempera-tures, according to the American Lung Association’s State of the Air 2019 report. Based on fed-eral, state and local data, it found that that many cities nationwide increased the number of days when particle pollution, often called “soot”, soared to record-breaking levels. More cities suffered from higher numbers of days when ground-level ozone, also known as “smog”, reached unhealthy levels. The report’s three-year span covered the hottest years on record globally, and as the report noted, the data “adds to the evidence that a changing climate is making it harder to protect human health.” Case in point: The top six cities or metro areas in ozone pollution—Los Angeles-Long Beach, Visalia, Bakersfield, Fresno-Madera-Hanford, Sacramen-to-Roseville and San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad—were all located in California, one of the most environmentally proactive states.

See a map of the 25 worst offenders by ozone, year-round particle pollution and short-term particle pollution and check out other locations by zip code at Tinyurl.com/ MostPollutedCities.