Good evening! I know Brian mentioned earlier in the week it is Air Quality Awareness Week across the country.  The American Lung Association just came up with there State of The Air Report.  In the report it says that 6 out of 10 or 60 percent of America live in an unhealthy air situation.  This ends up being 186.1 million people!  This is above last years mark of 125 million people. 

Some of the common health problems in regards to unhealthy air are coughing, heart attacks, lung cancer etc… 

Below, in alphabetical order, are the cleanest U.S. cities for ozone air pollution (only nine made the list since they were the only ones where no monitored ozone air pollution was found in unhealthful ranges):

• Billings, Mont.
• Carson City, Nev.
• Coeur d’Alene, Id.
• Fargo-Wahpeton, N.D.-Minn.
• Honolulu, Hawaii
• Laredo, Texas
• Lincoln, Neb.
• Port St.Lucie-Sebastian-Vero Beach, Fla.
• Sioux Falls, S.D.

Below are the top 25 cleanest U.S. cities for long-term particle pollution:

1 Cheyenne, Wyo.
2 Santa Fe-Espanola, N.M.
3 Honolulu, Hawaii
4 Great Falls, Mont.
4 Farmington, N.M.
6 Anchorage, Alaska
6 Tucson, Ariz.
8 Bismarck, N.D.
9 Flagstaff, Ariz.
9 Salinas, Calif.
11 Redding, Calif.
12 Fort Collins-Loveland, Colo.
13 Duluth, Minn.-Wis.
14 Colorado Springs, Colo.
14 Pueblo, Colo.
14 Fargo-Wahpeton, N.D.-Minn.
17 Albuquerque, N.M.
18 San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, Calif.
19 Midland-Odessa, Texas
20 Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Fla.
20 Boise City-Nampa, Idaho
20 Reno-Sparks-Fernley, Nev.
23 Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla.
24 Port St.Lucie-Sebastian-Vero Beach, Fla.
25 Billings, Mont.
25 Lincoln, Neb.

Below are people at risk in the 25 most ozone-polluted cities:

1 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, Calif.
2 Bakersfield, Calif. 
3 Visalia-Porterville, Calif.
4 Fresno-Madera, Calif.
5 Houston-Baytown-Huntsville, Texas
6 Sacramento-Arden-Yuba City, Calif.-Nev.
7 Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas
8 Charlotte-Gastonia-Salisbury, N.C.-S.C.
9 Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz.
10 El Centro, Calif.
11 Hanford-Corcoran, Calif.
12 Las Vegas-Paradise-Pahrump, Nev.
13 San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, Calif.
14 Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, D.C.-Md.-Va.-W.Va.
15 Cincinnati-Middletown-Wilmington, Ohio-Ky.-Ind.
16 Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md.
17 St.Louis-St.Charles-Farmington, Mo.-Ill.
17 New York-Newark-Bridgeport, N.Y.-N.J.-Conn.-Pa.
19 Knoxville-Sevierville-La Follette, Tenn.
20 Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman, Ala. 
21 Baton Rouge-Pierre Part, La.
22 Kansas City-Overland Park-Kansas City, Mo.-Kan.
23 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Gainesville, Ga.-Ala.
24 Merced, Calif.
25 Memphis, Tenn.

Below are people at risk in 25 U.S. cities most polluted by year-round particle pollution:

1 Bakersfield, Calif.
2 Pittsburgh-New Castle, Pa.
3 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, Calif.
4 Visalia-Porterville, Calif.
5 Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman, Ala.
6 Hanford-Corcoran, Calif.
7 Fresno-Madera, Calif.
8 Cincinnati-Middletown-Wilmington, Ohio-Ky.-Ind.
9 Detroit-Warren-Flint, Mich.
10 Cleveland-Akron-Elyria, Ohio
11 Charleston, W.Va.
11 Huntington-Ashland, W.Va.-Ky.-Ohio
11 Louisville-Jefferson County-Elizabethtown-Scottsburg, Ky.-Ind.
14 Macon-Warner Robins-Fort Valley, Ga.
14 St.Louis-St.Charles-Farmington, Mo.-Ill.
16 Weirton-Steubenville, WV-OH
17 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Gainesville, GA-AL
18 Indianapolis-Anderson-Columbus, Ind.
18 Rome, Ga.
20 Canton-Massillon, Ohio
20 York-Hanover-Gettysburg, Pa.
22 Lancaster, Pa.
22 New York-Newark-Bridgeport, N.Y.-N.J.-Conn.-Pa.
24 Hagerstown-Martinsburg, Md.-W.Va.
24 Houston-Baytown-Huntsville, Texas

For more information on the State of the Air click here, and for more about the article click here.

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