More days than ever reached hazardous levels for breathing
Some 141.1 million Americans – more than four in ten of us - live in counties with unhealthful levels of either ozone or particle pollution, according to a new "State of the Air" report from the American Lung Association. That’s an increase of more than 7.2 million Americans since the 2018 summary.
Eight cities recorded their highest number of days with unhealthy spikes in particle pollution since the nation began monitoring this pollutant 20 years ago. And the nation recorded more days with air quality considered hazardous, when air quality reached "emergency conditions"—Maroon on the air quality index—than ever before.