Metro Atlanta (my hometown) is still struggling with air pollution in the American Lung Association’s latest report. We have had fewer days of bad ozone pollution, but still ranked 25th among cities for the worst ozone. The report said Atlanta had worse results on year-round particle pollution caused by coal-fired power plants, diesel emissions, wildfires and wood-burning devices than the previous year, and is tied for 19th worst in this form of pollution. Ozone and particle pollution, or soot, are the most widespread air pollutants and are among the most dangerous for health effects. 

Moreover, the data in the report come from 2015, 2016, and 2017, which the Lung Association said were the three warmest years on record. “Georgia residents should be aware that we’re breathing unhealthy air, driven by extreme heat as a result of climate change, placing our health and lives at risk,” June Deen said. 

However, air quality has improved in suburbs like Columbus, St. Marys, Macon, and Warner Robins, all of which experienced fewer unhealthy days of high ozone in this year’s report, and in Fulton County, the most ozone-polluted county in metro Atlanta, which had an improved weighted average of 9.8 days of unhealthy levels of ozone in 2015-17 compared to the 10.2 days in 2014-16. Receiving A’s were Chatham, Chattooga, Glynn and Richmond counties, none of which are in metro Atlanta. Nationally, the air pollution trends are generally positive over the past 20 years, said Paul Billings of the American Lung Association. That’s largely due to the Clean Air Act, he said. The EPA reports that because of the CAA, New passenger vehicles are 98 to 99 percent cleaner for most tailpipe pollutants compared to the 1960s, Fuels are much cleaner (lead has been eliminated, and sulfur levels are more than 90 percent lower than they were prior to regulation), “U.S. cities have generally much improved air quality, despite ever increasing population and increasing vehicle miles traveled, and Standards have sparked technology innovation from industry. This is a good sign, and hopefully my home city and the rest of the US can keep innovating and improving our air quality.

http://www.georgiahealthnews.com/2019/04/metro-atlanta-struggling-air-pollution-report/