The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making available the most recent data on the state of the nation’s air quality. Air pollution impacts public health, the environment, and the Earth’s climate, and understanding these impacts are important priorities for the agency. EPA states in their press release that “regulatory actions and voluntary efforts have led to cleaner cars, industries and consumer products, that in turn have contributed to improvements in the nation’s air.”
Since 1990, nationwide air quality has improved significantly for the six common air pollutants: ground-level ozone, particle pollution, lead, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxide. Emissions of toxic air pollutants, such as benzene, have declined about 40 percent nationwide between 1990 and 2005.
EPA’s most recent evaluation of air pollution, Our Nation’s Air, Status and Trends Through 2008, presents trends in air quality measurements, analyzes national emissions from key industrial sectors and takes a look at the relationship between air quality and climate change.
More information: http://www.epa.gov/airtrends