April 30, 2020
Nearly half of the nation’s population – about 150 million people – live with and breathe polluted air, “placing their health and lives at risk,” according to new report released April 21st by the American Lung Association, a public health group according to an April 21, USA Today report.
The association’s 21st annual “State of the Air” report said climate change continues to make air pollution worse, with many Western cities again seeing record-breaking spikes in particle pollution from wildfires.
Click here to view your state’s county by county report.
“The report finds the air quality in some communities has improved, but the ‘State of the Air’ finds that far too many people are still breathing unhealthy air,” said American Lung Association president and CEO Harold Wimmer.
In fact, about 9 million more people are breathing dirty air than in last year’s report.
The 2020 report covers the years 2016-18, so any pollution decreases this year due to the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown were not included.
According to the lung association, those are the three years with the most recent quality-assured air pollution data. When it comes to air quality, changing climate patterns fuel wildfires and their dangerous smoke, and lead to worsened particle and ozone pollution, the report said.
According to the report, unhealthy levels of air pollution places people at risk for premature death and other serious health effects such as lung cancer, asthma attacks, cardiovascular damage and developmental and reproductive harm.
“Air pollution is linked to greater risk of lung infection,” Wimmer said. “Protecting everyone from COVID-19 and other lung infections is an urgent reminder of the importance of clean air.”
The report deals with the two main types of air pollution that plague the USA: smog (also known as ground-level ozone) and soot (technically known as “particulate matter”).
Primarily because of its geography and weather, California once again had the nation’s most polluted cities. Los Angeles and Visalia topped the list for smog; Bakersfield and Fresno led the way for soot pollution.
The nation’s cleanest cities, according to the report, were Bangor, Maine; Burlington, Vermont; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Wilmington, North Carolina. To make the list of cleanest cities, “a city must experience no high ozone or high particle pollution days and must rank among the 25 cities with the lowest year-round particle pollution levels,” the report said.
What this means to you
Nearly half of the nation’s population – about 150 million people – live with and breathe polluted air, “placing their health and lives at risk,” according to new report released by the American Lung Association.
MIRTECH can help
Contact MIRATECH for stationary engine emission compliance solutions.