California home to majority of 10 most polluted U.S. cities: report

LOS ANGELES, April 18 (Xinhua) -- California is home to a majority of the ten most polluted U.S. cities, both in terms of ozone and particle pollution, according to the American Lung Association's annual report.

The report named "State of the Air 2018," released Wednesday, covers 2014-2016 data, the most recent data available, and found that eight of the 10 U.S. cities with the worst ozone pollution are in California.

The Los Angeles/Long Beach area remains at the top of this list, as it has for all but one of the 19 reports. For 19 years, the American Lung Association has analyzed data from official air quality monitors to compile the "State of the Air" report.

Los Angeles also recorded more unhealthy air days in this report, measured in the weighted average, a change from last year when it reached its lowest level ever.

The report found ozone pollution worsened significantly in 2014-2016 compared to the previous report. Many U.S. cities experienced more days when ground-level ozone, also known as "smog," reached unhealthy levels, including most of the cities with the worst ozone problems.@ The report adds to the evidence that a changing climate is making it harder to protect human health. With record-setting heat in 2016, the number of high ozone days skyrocketed, putting millions more people at risk and adding challenges to the work cities across the nation are doing to clean up.

California is also home to seven of the 10 U.S. cities with the worst Short-Term Particle Pollution. Bakersfield is at the top of the list, according to the report.

The report found that 133.9 million Americans -- more than four in 10 (41.4 percent) -- lived in counties with unhealthful levels of either ozone or particle pollution in 2014-2016, placing them at risk for premature death and other serious health effects such as lung cancer, asthma attacks, cardiovascular damage, and developmental and reproductive harm.

"Near record-setting heat from our changing climate has resulted in dangerous levels of ozone in many cities across the country, making ozone an urgent health threat for millions of Americans," said Harold P. Wimmer, CEO and president of the association, in a press release.

"Far too many Americans are living with unhealthy air, placing their health and lives at risk. The 'State of the Air' report should serve as a wake-up call for residents and representatives alike. Everyone deserves to breathe healthy air, and we must do more to protect the air we breathe by upholding and enforcing the Clean Air Act," he said. Enditem