The American Lung Association (ALA) released its “State of the Air” report yesterday, which looks at the ozone and particle pollution levels across the U.S. for 2006, 2007 and 2008. As with most reports, there is good news and bad news.
The year-round, annual particle pollution levels showed improvement. But, there are also more than 175 million Americans that are still breathing polluted air. In case you were wondering, that is about 58 percent of our total population.
The ALA released a list of cities that are most polluted, based on ozone, short-term particle spikes, and long-term particle averages. Unfortunately for our California readers, three of your cities – Los Angeles, Fresno, and Bakersfield – made the top 10 of all three lists. California cities in general dominated the worst lists.
The top 10 worst cities for ozone were:
#1: Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA
#2: Bakersfield, CA
#3: Visalia-Porterville, CA
#4: Fresno-Madera, CA
#5: Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Yuba City, CA-NV
#6: Hanford-Corcoran, CA
#7: Houston-Baytown-Huntsville, TX
#8: San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA
#9: San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA
#10: Charlotte-Gastonia-Salisbury, NC-SC
The top 10 worst cities for short-term particle spikes were:
#1: Bakersfield, CA
#2: Fresno-Madera, CA
#3: Pittsburgh-New Castle, PA
#4: Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA
#5: Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman, AL
#6: Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Yuba City, CA-NV
#7: Salt Lake City-Ogden-Clearfield, UT
#8: Visalia-Porterville, CA
#9: Modesto, CA
#10: Hanford-Corcoran, CA
The top 10 worst cities for long-term article averages were:
#1: Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ
#2: Bakersfield, CA
#3: Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA
#3: Visalia-Porterville, CA
#5: Pittsburgh-New Castle, PA
#6: Fresno-Madera, CA
#7: Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman, AL
#8: Hanford-Corcoran, CA
#9: Cincinnati-Middletown-Wilmington, OH-KY-IN
#9: St. Louis-St. Charles-Farmington, MO-IL
Some of last year’s most polluted cities – Atlanta, Cleveland, and Detroit – had shown improvement.
What were the top 10 cities cleanest cities?
The top 10 best cities for ozone were:
#1: Bismarck, ND
#2: Brownsville-Harlingen-Raymondville, TX
#3: Coeur d’Alene, ID
#4: Duluth, MN-WI
#5: Fargo-Wahpeton, ND-MN
#6: Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR-MO
#7: Honolulu, HI
#8: Laredo, TX
#9: Lincoln, NE
#10: Port St. Lucie-Sebastian-Vero Beach, FL
The top 10 cleanest cities for short-term particle spikes were:
#1: Alexandria, LA
#2: Amarillo, TX
#3: Athens-Clarke County, GA
#4: Austin-Round Rock, TX
#5: Bangor, ME
#6: Billings, MT
#7: Bloomington-Normal, IL
#8: Brownsville-Harlingen-Raymondville, TX
#9: Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL
#10: Champaign-Urbana, IL
The top 10 cleanest cities for long-term article averages were:
#1: Cheyenne, WY
#2: Santa Fe-Espanola, NM
#3: Honolulu, HI
#4: Anchorage, AK
#4: Great Falls, MT
#6: Tucson, AZ
#7: Amarillo, TX
#8: Albuquerque, NM
#9: Flagstaff, AZ
#10: Bismarck, ND