The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has issued a report titled:
Our Nation’s Air: Trends Through 2023 (“Report”).
The purpose of the annual Report is to track trends in air quality and emissions data for the prior year.
The Report also evaluates:
- Efforts to improve visibility in national parks.
- Trends and community-level health impacts of hazardous air pollutants (i.e., air toxics).
The Report notes that between 1970 and 2023, the combined emissions of what are denominated as six “key pollutants” decreased by 78%. During the same time period, the United States economy is noted to have grown over 320%.
Specific air pollutant measurements include:
- Carbon Monoxide (CO) 8-Hour, 79%
- Lead (Pb) 3-Month Average, 87% (from 2010)
- Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) Annual, 62%
- Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) 1-Hour, 55%
- Ozone (O3) 8-Hour, 18%
- Particulate Matter 10 microns (PM10) 24-Hour, 29%
- Particulate Matter 2.5 microns (PM2.5) Annual, 37% (from 2000)
- Particulate Matter 2.5 microns (PM2.5) 24-Hour, 29% (from 2000)
- Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) 1-Hour, 92%
Climate change is referenced as impacting certain progress. For example, EPA states that since 2022, national average concentrations of pollutants such as carbon monoxide, ground-level ozone, and fine particle pollution have increased due in part to:
- Wildfires.
- Weather.
- Other natural events.
These increases are noted to have occurred even though emissions from transportation sources, power generation, and industrial processes have declined due to more stringent controls.
A link to the Report which contains a number of charts illustrating trends can be found here.
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