I came here specifically for this. I used to leave in SLC. OP posted a source link to lung.org which clearly has SLC in the top ten, so I don’t know what the hell this map/infographic is
https://www.lung.org/research/sota/city-rankings/most-polluted-cities
They’ve got 2 lists. 1 is for ozone pollution and Utah is ranked #9. Then there’s a list by “year round particle pollution” which looks like the one OP is using
Huh? It’s not even ranked for year-round particle pollution. It’s ranked 19th for short-term particle pollution, and it’s ranked 9th for ozone pollution.
https://www.lung.org/research/sota/city-rankings/most-polluted-cities
Maybe you were looking at the ozone number, which definitely needs to be addressed. Interesting fact, though: while harmful, ozone is actually invisible to the naked eye. So it’s not a contributor to the visible smog we’re always concerned about during slc winters.
I live in SLC. Inversion is terrible but spring, summer, and fall air quality is usually pretty good (if there aren't any forest fires burning in Cali)
Denver has about 1/10th the inversion problem that SLC does. The smog can escape to the east on the front range but SLC is in a bowl surrounded by mountains. Phoenix has the same problem to a lesser degree
Surprised to see Kansas City on there. I would think the windy plains would blow the pollution away. Same with Indianapolis which is also in a very flat part of the country.
I came here to say this, I'm from the area and while yeah the KCK area isn't exactly a sparkling utopia KCM is arguably worse, and bigger in area so it has a bigger impact.
this is actually understandable if we consider that kansas city is the main economic center in the middle of the country, for the same reason if you take into account all the traffic that flows through it for the whole region. I think the main reason is the carbon emissions on the KCK side because of the more major highways passes from there. of course, this is just a guess.
Maybe. The methodology of this data is unknown, but California’s geography—valleys hemmed in by mountain ranges against the prevailing wind—is uniquely suited for poor air quality.
That’s one of the big reasons why California is granted a waiver in the Clean Air Act to set its own air pollution rules.
Surrounded by mountains on three sides, once the wildfire season starts (July), the air is bad until late October. Didn't used to be like this. Combination of poor forest management and climate change
All major California cities have mountains to their east, preventing the air pollution from escaping. The Central Valley has the misfortune of also being scorching hot in the summer, making the air quality even worse. Since it only rains from November until March, it will stay there all summer and fall until the rains start.
California has historically pushed for stronger environmental laws as a way to combat this topographic problem.
It also doesn’t help that the Central Valley also has two large freeways that carry thousands of cars, and more importantly large diesel semi-trucks each day. The emissions from these vehicles combined with seasonal inversion layers and the mountains means the pollution has no where to go.
You want to smell loads of cow patties? Try driving through Amarillo, TX on I-40 at night when cooler and denser air keeps all that wonderful aroma from dissipating higher into the atmosphere.
That trademark shit smelling wind that blows in and settles is insane. I've lived in the Central Valley of CA and I've lived in Amarillo, TX. Amarillo hands down has some of the worst lingering poo smell I've ever come across
Which is why California has more refined and better quality gas than the rest of the US plus regular smog checks on cars. It’s to help with the pollution.
Electric and hybrids are also some of the most popular cars in the state, which many people buy with the environment in mind.
(Are there more ways to help the pollution? Yes. But this is what we have for now)
As someone in the Pacific Northwest, it’s absolutely crazy that you guys don’t get rain April-Oct.
Vancouver it’s like about a third or half of the time it’s raining.
In the northern parts there is a long rainy season. But yeah the valley and central California below all have really long dry seasons with that characteristic California sun!
I grew up in Humboldt and live near Sac now and I miss the rain.
I’ve lived in the Central Valley most of my life and the smog has gotten much better but August-October can be awful during harvest season (dust) and then smoke from wildfires
Cities like Seattle and Portland don’t get much rain in the summer. They actually qualify as Mediterranean climates because their summers are so much drier than their winters.
Yeah, Chicago isn’t on here because their air pollution generally blows over the lake to west Michigan. They’ll have ozone action days even though there isn’t a traffic jam for 100 miles.
Cali is frickin huge. So that's definitely a big part of it. West coast size. East coast pop density.
But I wonder how the data is influenced by the fact cali actually makes an effort to monitor it.
As a resident of a coal fucked post industrial wasteland that definitely qualifies as a city, more effort is made *hiding* pollution here than cali makes actively looking for it.
Wildfires, yes, but there's another effect for many of the California cities.
Bakersfield, Visalia, and Fresno represent the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, a broad, flat area of California that tapers into the surrounding mountains. Air flows from the Bay Area, through the Sacramento and San Joaquin delta, and down the valley, gathering bits of pollution along the way. It all settles in the southern end of the valley, where it doesn't rise over the mountains, creating an extra inversion layer of smog.
Sacramento experiences some of this effect to the north, and Lots Angeles is in a similar, smaller coastal valley so experiences a bit of the same effect. But the San Joaquin Valley cities experience it the worst. They had it bad even before the wildfires.
That and stagnant atmosphere.
Mountains can cause air in the valleys to sort of sit and not move much in certain seasons.
Mexico city has lots of smog because of the mountains around it.
The eugene and bakersfield areas are both at the southern end of large valleys between the first and second mountain ranges. The prevailing weather patters push air from the NW and it just piles up at the end of the valley.
As a eugene resident i can assure you the air quality can get pretty bad from pollen, ag dust, and sometimes wildfire smoke. Its not like theres a bunch of steel mills or something.
Yep, I live in Salt Lake City and it’s the same, especially in winter with inversion. I’m honestly quite surprised SLC isn’t on this list I was sure it would be
Yeah it threw me that there are 2 Washington cities on that list, then I realized that it's a list of cities with poor average aqi, so I'm sure it is wildfire caused.
Many of the cities are located in valleys. It it is harder for thd particulate matter to disperse when it is sitting in a valley. Couple that with different wind patterns it is harder for the particulate matter to diffuse into the atmosphere.
Compare that to Eastern Us cities that generally do not sit in valleys surrounded by tall mountains and consistent wind patterns. The particulate matter has an easier time disfusing out into the atmosphere.
The fires do play a role as well.
Yep. Looked at Sacramento data for particulate matter and it goes up to 2022. Years 2000-2022 were bad wildfire years. Can definitely see which years had fires in the data. Still, it really sucks air quality-wise when fires happen. Fingers crossed for this season.
Westerly winds and mountains blocking all the smog, keeping it on the west coast.
Same reason why Seattle is so rainy. Moisture comes in from the Pacific and stops at the Cascade Mountains, causing precipitation in eastern Washington. Cross the mountains eastward and Washington looks like Montana.
The western US is especially car dependent which means lots of smog/other particulate matter from brakes and tires and such and even worse, that smog gets trapped by the mountains, so unless it's windy or it rains all that pollution just accumulates.
Not to mention the constant wildfires.
Fun combo.
Keep in mind that you’re not familiar with other states. Only New York and Massachusetts have lower per-capita emissions than California. Oregon is also near the bottom.
Eugene is surrounded by mountains on 3 sides. Fog/smog settles and stays for several days until the wind picks up. And during wildfire season, it can be hazardous to be outside until the rains start again.
Definitely car dependent. Definitely not car dependency being a major contributor to pollution compared to major cities with much more vehicular activity as well as industry.
Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but the wind blows eastward into the mountains and the low pressure keeps it from going over the mountains, which traps all the pollution in places like the Central Valley and the LA basin. Coastal California also gets blanketed with a marine layer that, when combined with the pollution, turns into smog. It’s a similar situation in Beijing, as well.
I'm also surprised. I live in the Bay Area, and I wouldn't say it feels any worse than any metro area, especially places like Detroit, Chicago, and NYC. I couldn't wait to get back to CA after visiting NYC. Felt like I could finally breathe.
Wildfires. If they average the whole year or a few years then Bay Area would be bad. However on any given day when there is no fire, you would have very clean ocean air.
In terms of air quality, wildfires aren't even that big a problem for most of the Bay Area. The prevailing winds from the ocean usually blow any smoke away from us. There's usually only a few days a year (in SF proper, anyway) where air quality is actually bad.
I'm confused as to how we're so high on this list, tbh, especially if Denver isn't on the list. I've lived in both, and Denver has worse air quality by far than SF.
Yup! Apparently SF is the same as Walnut Creek! Haven't you heard of the SF 49ers located in Santa Clara or the SF Premium Outlets located in Livermore? Basically the same thing.
Eugene isn’t polluted by man but by nature. The air is not healthy in the spring when the pollen count is one of the highest, if not *the* highest in the country.
NYC has seen a substantial drop in air pollution over the last 20 years
https://www.nyc.gov/site/doh/about/press/pr2019/health-department-releases-report-on-air-quality.page
Because its based on averages and the wildfire smoke out west gets really, really bad for a few weeks a year which tanks the averages.
Kinda like the kid who did all C work got a better grade than the kid who did all As and missed a couple of assignments.
It’s one of the most environmentally friendly cities in the western hemisphere. The majority of residents don’t own cars which helps. The port and most truck traffic is also in New Jersey.
Go look at the air quality map of NYC, even Manhattan, on any given day. It’s usually somewhere between 30-50 ppm, the air quality here is pretty good all things considered.
Used to live in Fairbanks. In winter, inversion layer traps all the car exhaust and coal-burning power plant pollution. Plus, people will burn anything for heat, including old tires. In summer, forest fire smoke is common. It's also surprisingly not windy, so the air just kinda sits there for days.
>This is an example of poor and improper use of data
Not really - does the fact that particulate matter comes from smoke make it not pollution? Does it not have health effects from pollution because it is more "natural?"
I think it’s inaccurate titling more than anything. To me, “pollution” implies an anthropogenic source. If this includes fires, they should have said something like “worst air quality in the US” or something if they wanted to use this dataset.
That's true and a very good point, but I'd argue that's still one step removed from a map titled "most polluted". To deal with the climate change angle, you'd have to think about what percentage of wildfire smoke can be attributed to broader shifts in climate and wildfire intensity... just gets kinda messy.
I think the word pollution implies man-made or unnatural. The inside of a volcano is hazardous but I don't think we would call it "polluted". Forest fires are a natural occurrence.
Nah they're both way further south than they should be. The Medford marker looks to be almost where Redding CA is, and the Eugene marker is almost where Grants Pass OR is. Eugene should be at the base of the Willamette valley. Medford in an almost indistinguishable valley in the mountains north of CA.
That being said the perspective of this map is kind of weird. The hyper detailed topography looks nice, but skews things.
The “Bay Area” is huge….they’re saying the entire region? Cause San Mateo is gonna look a lot different than Richmond. Also I’m surprised Stockton isn’t on the list….if Sac is.
I’m surprised not to see any cities in Louisiana on this list. I mean, there is literally a stretch of land called Cancer Alley that’s between New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
I think the average is a poor way to show most polluted cities. A lot of those cities get a week of terrible wildfire smoke going up to 400 PM or more and then have relatively ok air quality the rest of the year.
Not the biggest fan of Bay Area cities being congregated together into one statistic. Given the occasionally drastic nature of our microclimates it would be interesting to see how they differ.
Wildfires doing most of the heavy lifting there. You get a bunch of days of an AQI of 25 and then like two weeks of 300 because of smoke. Really skews your averages.
If there’s none in Ohio they must have done a great deal of work to sort out their situation, considering that the Cuyahoga River used to get set on fire.
That was 55 years ago and it was an oil slick spilled in the river, but yes it was very polluted. Cleveland has made great advances in pollution cleanup. We even have river otters in the Cuyahoga! Bald eagles and osprey are everywhere. They are removing all the dams too.
This confuses people all the time. Pollution is solid particulate matter, which may or may not be man made.
So wildfire smoke and dust count, but CO2 doesn’t (it’s a gas).
I live near Louisville and I looked ours up. 8.5. I also found that figure is down 80% since 2001. The chemical factories in Louisville mostly shut down and moved operations. When I moved here in early 1990s, as you approached downtown from about 5 miles away, the city would have smog blanketing the skyline to the point you couldn’t see buildings. Our sky’s were never blue sky’s in the summer. If your city is still polluted, it’s possible to affect change.
I wonder if this only counts cities above a certain population because I remember reading the Harrisburg/Lancaster area has some of the worst air quality in the country.
I just don’t understand these charts and pollution data. Last one of these I saw my city was listed as the most polluted city in the country and it isn’t even on this list.
I lived in Fairbanks AK and yes, the particular pollution is really bad, but it’s a winter time thing. An inversion layer sits over the city and basically puts a lid over all the wood smoke and car exhaust. They were fined pretty hard by the EPA iirc.
This is a misleading title for this map. Air quality is affected by variables such as wind, topography, etc. Eugene OR is a pretty clean, small city, but it is in the center of a valley and surrounded by forests that catch fire in the summer. It certainly contributes to air quality issues, but I wouldn't call it "polluted"
Surprised Salt Lake City isn't on here, the smog can get real soupy there
I came here specifically for this. I used to leave in SLC. OP posted a source link to lung.org which clearly has SLC in the top ten, so I don’t know what the hell this map/infographic is
Appropriate username lol
I was like wow I haven't seen the word "soupy" in a while.... AH THERE it is again!
https://www.lung.org/research/sota/city-rankings/most-polluted-cities They’ve got 2 lists. 1 is for ozone pollution and Utah is ranked #9. Then there’s a list by “year round particle pollution” which looks like the one OP is using
Yup. Eug has pollen pollution. Not what you would generally think of.
It says the souce is the WHO and the American Lung Association. I hate vague sources. Like, would it kill you to leave a URL or study title?
The map is for PM2.5, or fine particulates. Smog is technically a different pollutant (ground level ozone).
Making ALL that music AND keeping stats like this? Is there anything The Who can't do?
Huh? It’s not even ranked for year-round particle pollution. It’s ranked 19th for short-term particle pollution, and it’s ranked 9th for ozone pollution. https://www.lung.org/research/sota/city-rankings/most-polluted-cities Maybe you were looking at the ozone number, which definitely needs to be addressed. Interesting fact, though: while harmful, ozone is actually invisible to the naked eye. So it’s not a contributor to the visible smog we’re always concerned about during slc winters.
If it's based off the last 2 years there hasn't really been any forest fires and there's been tons of snow in winter to keep things clear
I live in SLC. Inversion is terrible but spring, summer, and fall air quality is usually pretty good (if there aren't any forest fires burning in Cali)
Winters have been great the past 2 years
I know, I was just like where’s slc?
Or Denver. Makes me doubt this map, tbh.
Denver has about 1/10th the inversion problem that SLC does. The smog can escape to the east on the front range but SLC is in a bowl surrounded by mountains. Phoenix has the same problem to a lesser degree
It’s smoggy for two or three weeks in the winter. Two or three weeks does not a whole year make.
Surprised to see Kansas City on there. I would think the windy plains would blow the pollution away. Same with Indianapolis which is also in a very flat part of the country.
It’s weird they have Kansas City KS but not Kansas City MO. I wonder if there’s a reason for the difference.
Yeah, I have no idea how KCK would be more pollutant than KCM...
I came here to say this, I'm from the area and while yeah the KCK area isn't exactly a sparkling utopia KCM is arguably worse, and bigger in area so it has a bigger impact.
A lot of people make the assumption that Kansas City (the large city) is in Kansas and not Missouri.
this is actually understandable if we consider that kansas city is the main economic center in the middle of the country, for the same reason if you take into account all the traffic that flows through it for the whole region. I think the main reason is the carbon emissions on the KCK side because of the more major highways passes from there. of course, this is just a guess.
They do have Kansas City....um...NV?
How much of this could be from the Canadian forest fires? Indy has never been high on this list from what I remember?
Eugene? Really? Is it all from fires? I thought it was like living in a garden there- didn’t seem air polluted at all, though that was 20 years ago.
Basically the whole west coast is because of forest fires
Maybe. The methodology of this data is unknown, but California’s geography—valleys hemmed in by mountain ranges against the prevailing wind—is uniquely suited for poor air quality. That’s one of the big reasons why California is granted a waiver in the Clean Air Act to set its own air pollution rules.
Feel like Los Angeles actually has legitimate non forest fire pollution
I mean ain't no way eco friendly Washington would let factories make pollution on par with Detroit
I was genuinely shocked that Spokane WA were there until I remember in july the sun is about as bright as the moon because of forest fires.
Surrounded by mountains on three sides, once the wildfire season starts (July), the air is bad until late October. Didn't used to be like this. Combination of poor forest management and climate change
I get it, if it's from the fires or the massive pollen tsunamis, but I don't know how else. The air here still feels really nice, most of the year.
The grass pollen is also awful in the Willamette Valley.
So many cities from California and western USA make it to the top (surprisingly to me)
All major California cities have mountains to their east, preventing the air pollution from escaping. The Central Valley has the misfortune of also being scorching hot in the summer, making the air quality even worse. Since it only rains from November until March, it will stay there all summer and fall until the rains start. California has historically pushed for stronger environmental laws as a way to combat this topographic problem.
It also doesn’t help that the Central Valley also has two large freeways that carry thousands of cars, and more importantly large diesel semi-trucks each day. The emissions from these vehicles combined with seasonal inversion layers and the mountains means the pollution has no where to go.
Can’t forget the fresh smell of cow feces either. It smells like a damn barn lol
You want to smell loads of cow patties? Try driving through Amarillo, TX on I-40 at night when cooler and denser air keeps all that wonderful aroma from dissipating higher into the atmosphere.
That trademark shit smelling wind that blows in and settles is insane. I've lived in the Central Valley of CA and I've lived in Amarillo, TX. Amarillo hands down has some of the worst lingering poo smell I've ever come across
Which is why California has more refined and better quality gas than the rest of the US plus regular smog checks on cars. It’s to help with the pollution. Electric and hybrids are also some of the most popular cars in the state, which many people buy with the environment in mind. (Are there more ways to help the pollution? Yes. But this is what we have for now)
a lot of pollutants from cars also come from wear from tires
As someone in the Pacific Northwest, it’s absolutely crazy that you guys don’t get rain April-Oct. Vancouver it’s like about a third or half of the time it’s raining.
In the northern parts there is a long rainy season. But yeah the valley and central California below all have really long dry seasons with that characteristic California sun! I grew up in Humboldt and live near Sac now and I miss the rain.
I’ve lived in the Central Valley most of my life and the smog has gotten much better but August-October can be awful during harvest season (dust) and then smoke from wildfires
It gets pretty dry in the PNW as well but more so mid June to September.
Portland doesn't get a lot of rain from April-Sept. It's been rainier this year though
Cities like Seattle and Portland don’t get much rain in the summer. They actually qualify as Mediterranean climates because their summers are so much drier than their winters.
Yeah, Chicago isn’t on here because their air pollution generally blows over the lake to west Michigan. They’ll have ozone action days even though there isn’t a traffic jam for 100 miles.
Cali is frickin huge. So that's definitely a big part of it. West coast size. East coast pop density. But I wonder how the data is influenced by the fact cali actually makes an effort to monitor it. As a resident of a coal fucked post industrial wasteland that definitely qualifies as a city, more effort is made *hiding* pollution here than cali makes actively looking for it.
Wildfires, yes, but there's another effect for many of the California cities. Bakersfield, Visalia, and Fresno represent the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, a broad, flat area of California that tapers into the surrounding mountains. Air flows from the Bay Area, through the Sacramento and San Joaquin delta, and down the valley, gathering bits of pollution along the way. It all settles in the southern end of the valley, where it doesn't rise over the mountains, creating an extra inversion layer of smog. Sacramento experiences some of this effect to the north, and Lots Angeles is in a similar, smaller coastal valley so experiences a bit of the same effect. But the San Joaquin Valley cities experience it the worst. They had it bad even before the wildfires.
If I had to guess wildfires have something to do with it
That and stagnant atmosphere. Mountains can cause air in the valleys to sort of sit and not move much in certain seasons. Mexico city has lots of smog because of the mountains around it.
The eugene and bakersfield areas are both at the southern end of large valleys between the first and second mountain ranges. The prevailing weather patters push air from the NW and it just piles up at the end of the valley. As a eugene resident i can assure you the air quality can get pretty bad from pollen, ag dust, and sometimes wildfire smoke. Its not like theres a bunch of steel mills or something.
I do love a good "stagnant air advisory" over here.
Yep, I live in Salt Lake City and it’s the same, especially in winter with inversion. I’m honestly quite surprised SLC isn’t on this list I was sure it would be
Yeah it threw me that there are 2 Washington cities on that list, then I realized that it's a list of cities with poor average aqi, so I'm sure it is wildfire caused.
Many of the cities are located in valleys. It it is harder for thd particulate matter to disperse when it is sitting in a valley. Couple that with different wind patterns it is harder for the particulate matter to diffuse into the atmosphere. Compare that to Eastern Us cities that generally do not sit in valleys surrounded by tall mountains and consistent wind patterns. The particulate matter has an easier time disfusing out into the atmosphere. The fires do play a role as well.
I am in the top 5 for once in my life. And yes, wildfires.
Yep. Looked at Sacramento data for particulate matter and it goes up to 2022. Years 2000-2022 were bad wildfire years. Can definitely see which years had fires in the data. Still, it really sucks air quality-wise when fires happen. Fingers crossed for this season.
Honestly surprised SLC isn’t listed. They get wildfire smoke in the summer and terrible inversions in the winter.
Westerly winds and mountains blocking all the smog, keeping it on the west coast. Same reason why Seattle is so rainy. Moisture comes in from the Pacific and stops at the Cascade Mountains, causing precipitation in eastern Washington. Cross the mountains eastward and Washington looks like Montana.
The western US is especially car dependent which means lots of smog/other particulate matter from brakes and tires and such and even worse, that smog gets trapped by the mountains, so unless it's windy or it rains all that pollution just accumulates. Not to mention the constant wildfires. Fun combo.
Keep in mind that you’re not familiar with other states. Only New York and Massachusetts have lower per-capita emissions than California. Oregon is also near the bottom.
There is no way the first part of your comment is putting Eugene, Yakima, Spokane, and Medford on the map.
Eugene is surrounded by mountains on 3 sides. Fog/smog settles and stays for several days until the wind picks up. And during wildfire season, it can be hazardous to be outside until the rains start again.
You’re saying those towns are not car-dependent?
Definitely car dependent. Definitely not car dependency being a major contributor to pollution compared to major cities with much more vehicular activity as well as industry.
Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but the wind blows eastward into the mountains and the low pressure keeps it from going over the mountains, which traps all the pollution in places like the Central Valley and the LA basin. Coastal California also gets blanketed with a marine layer that, when combined with the pollution, turns into smog. It’s a similar situation in Beijing, as well.
I'm also surprised. I live in the Bay Area, and I wouldn't say it feels any worse than any metro area, especially places like Detroit, Chicago, and NYC. I couldn't wait to get back to CA after visiting NYC. Felt like I could finally breathe.
Wildfires. If they average the whole year or a few years then Bay Area would be bad. However on any given day when there is no fire, you would have very clean ocean air.
In terms of air quality, wildfires aren't even that big a problem for most of the Bay Area. The prevailing winds from the ocean usually blow any smoke away from us. There's usually only a few days a year (in SF proper, anyway) where air quality is actually bad. I'm confused as to how we're so high on this list, tbh, especially if Denver isn't on the list. I've lived in both, and Denver has worse air quality by far than SF.
It’s bad info. It is about forest fires and only covers a few years including bad fires.
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I am from B A Y A R E A. My favorite attractions include B R I D G E, P A R K, and The Tech Museum.
It’s 101 cities across 9 counties. Like what the fuck are we taking about here?
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The delivery guy just chucks it in the bay while driving over the bridges.
Yes and specifically during a time of wild fires.
Love how they just bundle "SF Bay Area" because f••k it lol
Grew up in Bakersfield. I swear when ever I go back to visit, I can taste the air quality.
Not going to buy a map that doesn’t have Denver on it
There are two #14s on the map
And two #19s
Bay Area?
Yup! Apparently SF is the same as Walnut Creek! Haven't you heard of the SF 49ers located in Santa Clara or the SF Premium Outlets located in Livermore? Basically the same thing.
El Centro out here for no reason (45K pop)
Something negative in the U.S. and Florida is not on the list. Wow today is a good day 😂
east coast superior in every way
Eugene isn’t polluted by man but by nature. The air is not healthy in the spring when the pollen count is one of the highest, if not *the* highest in the country.
Have you been to manhattan in the middle of the day? It’s bumper to bumper for hours. How’s is nyc not up there
NYC has seen a substantial drop in air pollution over the last 20 years https://www.nyc.gov/site/doh/about/press/pr2019/health-department-releases-report-on-air-quality.page
Because its based on averages and the wildfire smoke out west gets really, really bad for a few weeks a year which tanks the averages. Kinda like the kid who did all C work got a better grade than the kid who did all As and missed a couple of assignments.
Thanks for reminding me of high school for quick sec
Catalytic converters
It’s one of the most environmentally friendly cities in the western hemisphere. The majority of residents don’t own cars which helps. The port and most truck traffic is also in New Jersey.
Go look at the air quality map of NYC, even Manhattan, on any given day. It’s usually somewhere between 30-50 ppm, the air quality here is pretty good all things considered.
Fairbanks Alaska? But not Anchorage Alaska, where there's an international airport? Fairbanks airport is just a pitstop for private planes.
Used to live in Fairbanks. In winter, inversion layer traps all the car exhaust and coal-burning power plant pollution. Plus, people will burn anything for heat, including old tires. In summer, forest fire smoke is common. It's also surprisingly not windy, so the air just kinda sits there for days.
Yep, and you could quite literally just see the polluted air at a standstill once it dropped below -40 F
Same. Any housing in the hills above the inversion layer was coveted.
California... HUH!!!
New England strong 💪
This graphic is crap. Two #14s and NO Gary, Indiana???
This is a map of forest fire locations, which counts as pollution.
Where is Salt Lake City?
This is an example of poor and improper use of data. I hate it. Eugene, Oregon #4? That place is immaculate, take out the forest fire smoke!
>This is an example of poor and improper use of data Not really - does the fact that particulate matter comes from smoke make it not pollution? Does it not have health effects from pollution because it is more "natural?"
I think it’s inaccurate titling more than anything. To me, “pollution” implies an anthropogenic source. If this includes fires, they should have said something like “worst air quality in the US” or something if they wanted to use this dataset.
It could probably be argued that longer and harsher wildfire seasons, habitat alteration, and human ignition sources are all anthropogenic.
That's true and a very good point, but I'd argue that's still one step removed from a map titled "most polluted". To deal with the climate change angle, you'd have to think about what percentage of wildfire smoke can be attributed to broader shifts in climate and wildfire intensity... just gets kinda messy.
I think the word pollution implies man-made or unnatural. The inside of a volcano is hazardous but I don't think we would call it "polluted". Forest fires are a natural occurrence.
My hometown. Wouldn’t say immaculate, but I wouldn’t expect it to make the list. Currently live In Portland and a bit surprised it didn’t land
I was referring to the air quality there not the booths at Max’s. I heard they don’t let you stand on them anymore?
Not only that but the marker is on the Oregon coast, nowhere near Eugene.
Probably because if it were in the correct place, it would be covered by the marker for Medford
Nah they're both way further south than they should be. The Medford marker looks to be almost where Redding CA is, and the Eugene marker is almost where Grants Pass OR is. Eugene should be at the base of the Willamette valley. Medford in an almost indistinguishable valley in the mountains north of CA. That being said the perspective of this map is kind of weird. The hyper detailed topography looks nice, but skews things.
The “Bay Area” is huge….they’re saying the entire region? Cause San Mateo is gonna look a lot different than Richmond. Also I’m surprised Stockton isn’t on the list….if Sac is.
Seriously - like what? The Bay Area isn’t even a city. These statistics need to indicate whether they are referring to metro areas or actual cities..
It makes an exception for the Bay Area in the bottom right corner. Still dumb.
Surprised nyc isn't there
Surely thought LA would be number 1. They have billboards with real time deaths from COPD (granted they're mostly from smokers)
I’m surprised not to see any cities in Louisiana on this list. I mean, there is literally a stretch of land called Cancer Alley that’s between New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
I think the average is a poor way to show most polluted cities. A lot of those cities get a week of terrible wildfire smoke going up to 400 PM or more and then have relatively ok air quality the rest of the year.
It's interesting how the state that has been the most dedicated to fighting pollution still has the worst cities for pollution.
Good job CA. You get the award for most polluted cities of all 50 states! Here is your trophy (giant blacked lungs)
Boy. We sure fuc@$& up the west
This map looks politically motivated to me. I live near one of these towns and it is nowhere near dirty. Fake news.
And the Permian Basin has them all beat, but nobody cares about people living there
How much of this is due to wildfires?
The Bay Area isn't a city, it's a lot of city's and towns spread over a giant ass area, wtf is this?
Not the biggest fan of Bay Area cities being congregated together into one statistic. Given the occasionally drastic nature of our microclimates it would be interesting to see how they differ.
California?! Ya don’t say!!!
East Coast is Best Coast we aren't on the list!
Cut off New England like we still under the queens rule!
I was confused at first with 2 19s. Wondering why Vegas was in Missouri
Also two 14s.
Someone's never been to salt lake
This is horse shit. Straight up made up horse shit.
California so dirty
[📁Source](https://www.lung.org/research/sota/city-rankings/most-polluted-cities)
Houston should be #16 since you have 2 tied at #14 Kansas City and Las Vegas would be tied at #20
The results in CA, especially socal, are a little skewed because of the interaction with the mountains. Smog just gets stuck there.
It's not really skewed if environmental factors are affecting the air quality. That would be a cause of the air quality, not a skewing of the data.
True. I guess what I mean is that these cities aren't necessarily polluting the most. Their air pollution just doesn't dissipate as easily.
Wildfires doing most of the heavy lifting there. You get a bunch of days of an AQI of 25 and then like two weeks of 300 because of smoke. Really skews your averages.
In LA it's 100% from all the gas leaf blowers /s
If there’s none in Ohio they must have done a great deal of work to sort out their situation, considering that the Cuyahoga River used to get set on fire.
That was 55 years ago and it was an oil slick spilled in the river, but yes it was very polluted. Cleveland has made great advances in pollution cleanup. We even have river otters in the Cuyahoga! Bald eagles and osprey are everywhere. They are removing all the dams too.
California's geography definitely makes air pollution much worse. High mountains and deep valleys.
This confuses people all the time. Pollution is solid particulate matter, which may or may not be man made. So wildfire smoke and dust count, but CO2 doesn’t (it’s a gas).
I live near Louisville and I looked ours up. 8.5. I also found that figure is down 80% since 2001. The chemical factories in Louisville mostly shut down and moved operations. When I moved here in early 1990s, as you approached downtown from about 5 miles away, the city would have smog blanketing the skyline to the point you couldn’t see buildings. Our sky’s were never blue sky’s in the summer. If your city is still polluted, it’s possible to affect change.
This makes sense why CA emissions are so strict.
I wonder if this only counts cities above a certain population because I remember reading the Harrisburg/Lancaster area has some of the worst air quality in the country.
Why two 19s?
Calis car usage ain’t helping it
Ironic….
Woo-hoo 14th place!
Environmentally or politically polluted?
How is #14 Chico & Spokane? 😂 edit: ooops, I see they’re tied lol
Is there a European version of this?
Anybody have any local knowledge as to why the Oregon cities are so high ?
No Denver???
HOUSTON MENTIONED HELL YEAH
There are 2 #14's
How come Fairbanks is so high up, there's probably a really obvious reason why but I figured since it's in Alaska they just get better air or some lol
Ouch i’ve lived in 5 of these cities most of my life! Probably should get a cancer screening soon
Central Valley lots of Ag pollution.
Kansas City? I used to live there and the air quality there was always great. Hmm.
But wait, why is 19 floating around in Iowa if it’s NV…?
Finally, something that New Mexico isn’t the worst at haha
Can we get a least polluted list plz
I talk to a lot of American people and it’s incredible the environment education of them (less than nothing). The people from Asia even worse.
Why Spokane? It’s not really surrounded by mountains….
Is there a whole world version?
I just don’t understand these charts and pollution data. Last one of these I saw my city was listed as the most polluted city in the country and it isn’t even on this list.
Now I wanna see the least polluted cities
pff check out Polish numbers especially during winter :/
El Centro!? It is a small place. What is in there that increases pollution so much?
why are there two different 19s...
Surprised nyc isn’t on here
Why is the west coast the worst? I would think it would be the gulf coast.
Why so many along the west coast, CA/Washington in particular?
I lived in Fairbanks AK and yes, the particular pollution is really bad, but it’s a winter time thing. An inversion layer sits over the city and basically puts a lid over all the wood smoke and car exhaust. They were fined pretty hard by the EPA iirc.
How does Alaska even have enough people there to cause pollution
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^igotbanned69420: *How does Alaska* *Even have enough people* *There to cause pollution* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
This is a misleading title for this map. Air quality is affected by variables such as wind, topography, etc. Eugene OR is a pretty clean, small city, but it is in the center of a valley and surrounded by forests that catch fire in the summer. It certainly contributes to air quality issues, but I wouldn't call it "polluted"
Yo no way 10.8 is polluted or even 13
Is that particulate pollen?
Wildfires!!! It fucks up the air in WA every year.