December 17, 2024
Newly released Air Quality data from the Environmental Protection Agency shows that poor air quality days increased substantially in 2023, due in part to smoke from Canadian wildfires that summer. Explore the region’s air quality data in today's #TrackingTuesday.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) has developed air quality standards for six "criteria" pollutants. Of these six pollutants, the DVRPC region has a history of not meeting the standards for two: ground-level ozone and fine particulate matter (PM2.5).
Improving the region’s air quality is a focus of Connections 2050, DVRPC’s Long-Range Plan. Reducing Ozone and PM2.5 concentrations is important because they have been shown to impede healthy lung development in children and exacerbate breathing disorders in the general population, especially in the elderly. Exposure to PM2.5 can aggravate heart conditions. Poor air quality has economic implications including more days of missed work and school, and higher costs for households and the healthcare system. Air pollution has been shown to have disproportionate effects on persons of color and low-income populations.
Air quality data from the US EPA shows the region had 25 days violating ozone and PM2.5 pollutant standards in 2023, up from just six days with violations in 2022. Canadian wildfire smoke traveling to the region over the summer of 2023 played a role in this increase. Although air quality is greatly influenced by weather conditions, days violating national air quality standards had steadily decreased over the last two decades prior to 2023. The five-year average of days with poor air quality went from 13 per year from 2018 to 2022 to 14 per year from 2019 to 2023. This is the first time this value has increased since 2002.
Concentrations of both pollutants increased slightly in 2023, after having decreased in severity for about a decade prior. Ozone violations are more common than PM2.5, thanks to advances made to reduce PM2.5 levels through power plant and diesel-powered engine regulations. Ozone is particularly seasonal—with violations occurring primarily in the warmer months each year, due to higher levels of heat and sunlight in those periods. The last “Very Unhealthy” day for ozone occurred in 2008. 2023 was the first year with a PM2.5 violation since 2008, and it was the first year since 2019 with at least one code red “Unhealthy” day.
Federal standards have had a dramatic effect in reducing emissions and unhealthy air quality days over the past few decades. Public health has benefitted from greater awareness of pollutants and ways to lessen their impact. However, climate change may counter the progress the nation has made in improving air quality, as higher temperatures increase the potential for forming ground-level ozone and wildfires risk increased PM2.5 emissions, which is likely to result in more days that violate national standards.
For more details on the air quality conditions in the region and other environmental metrics, go to the “How are we doing?” tab in the Air Quality Indicator.
Want to download the data for your own use? Under each chart, find a link to the data in DVRPC’s Data Catalog. You can also explore other indicators in Tracking Progress, DVRPC’s interactive dashboard for exploring Greater Philadelphia’s progress toward the Connections 2050 regional vision.