May 25, 2023
By:
Walter G. Wright
Category:
Arkansas Environmental, Energy, and Water Law
Arkansas Environmental, Energy, and Water Law
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The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) released its annual report tracking what it describes as “America’s Progress in Controlling air Pollution.”
The interactive document is titled:
Our Nation’s Air: Trends Through 2022 (“Report”)
EPA characterizes the Report as providing readers:
- An opportunity to learn about the health and environmental impacts of air pollution
- Ability to track trends in air quality and emissions data
- Explore efforts to improve visibility in national parks
- Explore community-level health impacts of air toxic emissions reported for 2020
The Report summarizes emissions data between 1970 and 2022.
It states by way of overall summary that:
. . . combined emissions of six key pollutants dropped by 78%, while the U.S. economy rate remained strong – growing 304% over the same time.
United States average concentrations for the following air pollutants were stated to have decreased between 1990 and 2022 as follows:
- Carbon Monoxide (CO) 8-Hour,81%
- Lead (Pb) 3-Month Average,88% (from 2010)
- Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) Annual,60%
- Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) 1-Hour,54%
- Ozone (O3) 8-Hour,22%
- Particulate Matter 10 microns (PM10) 24-Hour,34%
- Particulate Matter 2.5 microns (PM2.5) Annual,42% (from 2000)
- Particulate Matter 2.5 microns (PM2.5) 24-Hour,42% (from 2000)
- Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) 1-Hour,90%
A link to the Report with interactive charts can be downloaded here.
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