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Unhealthy air pollution affects nearly 40% of Americans, report reveals
A recent American Lung Association report states that climate change and wildfires are reversing progress on air pollution, impacting 131 million Americans with unhealthy air.
In short:
- The "State of the Air" report shows an increase of 12 million people living in polluted areas since last year.
- Climate-related disasters, particularly wildfires, are major contributors to deteriorating air quality.
- Policies and technology exist to mitigate this issue, but lack of political will remains a barrier.
Key quote:
“It is distressing to find that so many people are living with air quality that threatens their health.”
— Katherine Pruitt, national senior director for clean air policy at the American Lung Association.
Why this matters:
As the planet warms, drier and hotter conditions become more common, setting the stage for wildfires to ignite and spread more easily. These wildfires produce vast amounts of smoke, containing particulates and harmful gases such as carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds, which significantly degrade air quality.
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Big Stock Photo
American families have a massive food-waste problem
Household food waste is a problem for the planet—but a few simple changes can help.
As climate change worsens, Americans struggle to escape its impacts
A couple moved from Nevada to New Hampshire to escape the effects of a changing climate. Issues with extreme weather followed them to their new home.
Newsletter
Photo by Andrew Rivera on Unsplash
Health of older Americans at risk from growing heat waves fueled by climate change
Heat waves fueled by climate change are arriving earlier, growing more intense and lasting longer, creating higher risks of illness and death for older people who are especially vulnerable to hot weather.
Newsletter
Asian Americans left out of climate movement
Despite elevated degrees of exposure and many decades spent advancing justice, Asian Americans have long been excluded from the national climate movement, activists and scientists tell Axios.
Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash
Is BART prepared for the catastrophic weather events climate change will bring?
In the San Francisco Bay Area, experts predict climate change will be felt far and wide with hotter temperatures, fiercer wildfires and more intense droughts than in previous years.
Newsletter
www.nationalgeographic.com
Nearly half of Americans say climate change has become a bigger threat
The increase in sea levels, extreme weather, and wildfires, some of it the result of climate change, has made nearly nearly half of Americans feel more threatened by the changing climate, a poll finds.
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