NYC Takes Steps To Improve Air Quality
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Are you a part of the 44%? That's the percentage of people living in areas where pollution levels are high enough to be considered hazardous, according to the American Lung Association's 2015 "State of the Air" report.
The report compiles data from official monitoring sites that record ozone (smog) and particle pollution levels from 2011, 2012 and 2013.
And according to the report, New York City isn't faring too well. The "State of the Air" report assigns grades to areas that give an idea of how high those ozone and particle pollution levels are where you live. Richmond County, Queens County and Bronx County all received failing grades when it comes to Ozone levels, while New York County was slightly higher with a D grade. Data was not collected in Kings County.
But its not all doom and gloom. All of the counties received passing grades when it came to Annual Particle Pollution grading.
However, severe health problems can occur from air pollution. Pregnant women, kids under the age of 14 and those with heart disease or lung disease are most at risk. Besides that, high pollution levels can lead to cardiovascular problems and long-term exposure can result in smaller lung capacity, as well as impaired lungs.
And despite this most recent report from the American Lung Association, New York City has continually been taking steps to improve its air quality. Two years ago, the Bloomberg administration announced that the air in the city was the cleanest it had been in 50 years. This result came from phasing out heating oil that polluted heavily, and installing cleaner fuels in buildings.
Now, the de Blasio administration is leading the sustainability efforts under the program, OneNYC. The program will seek to cut emissions from mobile sources, and the program will continue to usher out heating oil boilers in buildings, while enforcing the Department of Environmental Protection Air Pollution Control Code. If all goes to plan, according to the official website, "New York will have the best air quality of all large U.S. cities by 2030."
What can you do to help? The answer is surprisingly simple. The American Lung Association provides a few steps you can take. Residents should prevent driving as much as possible, which should be easy for most New Yorkers. The organization also suggests using less electricity and not burning wood or trash.
The city with the lowest Ozone Air Pollution levels according to the "State of the Air" report is Bellingham, Washington. While Prescott, Arizona has lowest annual Particle Pollution levels. New York City is far from the worst. In terms of Ozone levels, New York City comes just outside the top 10, with Los Angeles having the worst Ozone levels in the country.
