The American Lung Association has released a State of Air report for 2022. The report was complied using data from official air quality monitors. The report grades states, cities and counties using a scale from A to F. The report shows that Tampa Bay Air Quality has extreme air quality variations depending on the county.
Tampa Bay Air Quality
Tampa Bay has some of the best and the worst air quality, according to the report. Hillsborough County received an Ozone Grade of F. The 2018, 2019 and 2020 AQS hourly ozone data were used to calculate the daily 8-hour maximum concentration for each ozone-monitoring site. On the other hand, Pinellas County received an Ozone Grade of A. You can learn more about the methodology and how the grades were calculated here.
Key findings
The State of the Air 2022 report finds that despite progress on cleaning up sources of air pollution, over 40% of Americans—over 137 million people—are living in places with failing grades for unhealthy levels of particle pollution or ozone. This is 2.1 million more people breathing unhealthy air compared to last year’s report. Nearly 9 million more people were affected by daily spikes in deadly particle pollution than reported last year. In the three years covered by this report, Americans experienced more days of “very unhealthy” and “hazardous” air quality than ever before in the two-decade history of the State of the Air.
Click here to check your county’s air quality.
Cleanest and most polluted cities
Ten cities rank on all three cleanest cities lists for particle pollution and ozone. They had zero days high in particle pollution or ozone and are among the 31 cities with the lowest year-round particle levels:
- Bangor, ME
- Burlington-South Burlington-Barre, VT
- Charlottesville, VA
- Elmira-Corning, NY
- Harrisonburg-Staunton, VA
- Lincoln-Beatrice, NE
- Roanoke, VA
- Urban Honolulu, HI
- Virginia Beach-Norfolk, VA-NC
- Wilmington, NC
California is home to some of the most polluted cities:
- Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA
- Bakersfield, CA
- Visalia, CA
- Fresno-Madera-Hanford, CA
- Phoenix-Mesa, AZ
- San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA
- Denver-Aurora, CO
- Houston-The Woodlands, TX
- Sacramento-Roseville, CA
- Salt Lake City-Provo-Orem, UT
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State of the country’s air
This year’s report shows that climate change is degrading air quality in the U.S. Rising temperatures and other impacts associated with climate change contribute to more frequent and intense wildfire smoke, as well as making ozone air pollution more likely to form.
The addition of 2020 data to the 2022 “State of the Air” report gives a first look at air quality trends during the COVID-19 pandemic. Regardless of the shutdowns in early 2020, there was no obvious improvement.
Tips to protect yourself from unhealthy air
Here are some simple, effective tips for protecting you and your family from the dangers of air pollution:
- Check daily air pollution forecasts in your area. Sources include local radio and TV weather reports, newspapers and online at airnow.gov.
- Avoid exercising outdoors when pollution levels are high. When the air is bad, walk indoors in a shopping mall or gym or use an exercise machine. Limit the time your child spends playing outdoors if the air quality is unhealthy.
- Always avoid exercising near high-traffic areas.
- Use less energy in your home. Generating electricity and other sources of energy creates air pollution.
- Encourage your child’s school to reduce exposure to school bus emissions. To keep exhaust levels down, schools should not allow school buses to idle outside of their buildings.
- Walk, bike or carpool. Combine trips. Use buses, subways, light rail systems, commuter trains or other alternatives to driving your car.
- Don’t burn wood or trash. Burning firewood and trash are among the major sources of particle pollution (soot) in many parts of the country.
- Use hand-powered or electric lawn care equipment rather than gasoline-powered.