Climate Change

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🏭 Most polluted cities

Data: American Lung Association. (Days when air pollution was worse received a greater weighting in the calculation.) Chart: Alex Fitzpatrick/Axios Nearly half of Americans (44%) are living in places with unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution, Alex Fitzpatrick writes from the American Lung Association's 2026 State of the Air report. That's over 152 million people, and despite "decades of successful efforts to reduce sources of air pollution." 🔥 The big picture: Climate change is fueling extreme heat, drought and wildfires that contribute to unhealthy air conditions nationwide, the group says. That's making it "harder to protect ... hard-fought progress on air quality and human health." 📊 Zoom in: Three California metros — L.A., Visalia and Bakersfield — had the most high ozone days across 2022-2024, on average. Fairbanks, Alaska; Eugene, Ore.; and Bakersfield, Calif. topped the list for average daily particle pollution. Read the report.