These are the most polluted cities in America

by Tyler Durden

American Lung Association released Twenty-second annual report on the state of air. Detail of Niall McCarthy from Statista He found it 135 million Americans live with polluted air that puts their health and lives at risk. It also found that the burden is not shared equally with the People of color are 61 percent more likely to live in a county with more polluted air than whites. While some parts of the country have achieved improvements as the number of Americans inhaled an unhealthy year decreased by 14.8 million compared to last year, the risk of particulate air pollution is getting worse.

Nearly 1.1 million Americans were found living in areas with unhealthy levels of PM2.5 pollution compared to last year’s report.

Microscopic PM2.5 particles It originates from several sources Such as diesel engines, coal-fired power plants, forest fires, and wood burning stoves. It can cause a host of health issues including asthma attacks, heart attacks, strokes, and the development of lung cancer while recently it has been linked to worse outcomes in patients with Covid-19. Each year, the report ranks U.S. cities across two categories of air pollution – short-range particle pollution and year-round particle pollution. 54.4 million Americans fall into the first category and have to live with dangerous spikes in particulate pollution in the short term, mainly due to wood burning in homes and wildfire smoke.

20.9 million Americans have to live with particulate pollution throughout the year, Category 2. Based on the National Air Quality Standard for year-round particle pollution, counties that scored below 12 were awarded “pass” while those that scored above were “failed.”

You will find more graphs at Statista

Once again, Bakersfield, California, is ranked the worst American city for year-round particulate pollution despite the fact that it managed to improve PM2.5 levels in the short term. Fresno-Madeira-Hanford and Visalia followed suit in the list of worst-performing cities, both of which are also in California. Poor air quality has been a problem for years in California and the state has maintained its distinction of having the worst performing cities in the report, with 10 of the 25 most polluted cities in the country.

Source: Zero hedge