A recent report issues a stark warning: Nearly 40% of Americans reside in areas where air pollution poses a significant threat to their health.
According to the latest edition of the “State of the Air” report by the American Lung Association (ALA), the number of individuals exposed to hazardous levels of air pollution has surged from approximately 119 million in 2023 to a staggering 131 million today.
Reflecting on these concerning findings, Harold Wimmer, president and CEO of the ALA, emphasized the unexpected persistence of air pollution despite decades of efforts to combat it. “While we have made significant strides in improving air quality over the past 25 years, it is disheartening to witness over 130 million people still grappling with unhealthy air,” he remarked in a press release.
Attributing the rise in air pollution to climate change-induced phenomena like extreme heat, droughts, and wildfires, Katherine Pruitt, the report’s author and senior director of the ALA’s Nationwide Clean Air Policy, highlighted the escalating threat posed by wildfire smoke in particular. “Wildfire smoke pollution is intensifying annually, and climate change exacerbates this issue, posing a severe health hazard,” she cautioned.
Despite notable reductions in outdoor air pollutant emissions since the enactment of the Clean Air Act in 1970, Pruitt stressed that the prevalence of unhealthy air remains distressingly high. Notably, she underscored a geographical shift in air pollution dynamics, with the Western regions of the country witnessing a surge in pollution levels due to increased oil and gas extraction activities and the devastating impacts of climate change-induced wildfires.
While strides have been made in curbing pollution from traditional sources such as automobiles and industrial facilities in the Eastern United States, Pruitt highlighted the pressing need for intensified efforts to address emerging sources of pollution in the West. “Although significant progress has been made in cleaning up traditional sources of pollution in the East, the West now faces a growing challenge due to the expansion of oil and gas extraction activities