Warning: Breathe at your own risk (unless you live in Bismarck, N.D.)
The American Lung Association has released its “State of the Air” report, a ranking of the most polluted cities.
Despite the glorious developments coming out of California in terms of sustainable living, from organic farming to clean transportation, several cities from The Golden State ranked among the country’s most polluted. Even San Luis Obispo, a bucolic town with a farmer’s market that boasts some of the most beautiful and larger-than-life produce I’ve ever seen or tasted, came in at #9 for most polluted by ozone.
Georgia showed up quite a bit in the rankings for worst year-round particle pollution:
- At #16, Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Gainesville, GA-AL tied with Houston-Baytown-Huntsville, TX and Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH;
- At #19, Macon-Warner Robins-Fort Valley, GA tied with Cleveland-Akron-Elyria, OH;
- And at # 23: Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC.
Seems you can’t judge a city’s environmental health by its looks.
San Luis Obispo, a bucolic California town with a farmer’s market that boasts some of the most beautiful and larger-than-life produce I’ve ever seen or tasted, came in at #9 for most polluted by ozone. But it ranked the 23rd cleanest U.S. city for year-round particle pollution.
And Augusta’s manicured golf lawns apparently belie a not-so-pristine environment after all.
We probably need a statistician and a social scientist and an environmental activist to explain it all to us.
In the meantime, you can head to Bismarck, N.D. for the best ozone layer in the country or Cheyenne, Wy. for America’s cleanest level of year-round particle pollution.
Visit www.stateoftheair.org for the full report.
