JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville metro area was ranked among the cleanest in the nation for ozone pollution, according to the American Lung Association’s 2024 “State of the Air” report, which was released Wednesday.
The Lung Association’s 25th annual “State of the Air” report grades exposure to unhealthy levels of ground-level ozone air pollution, annual particle pollution and short-term spikes in particle pollution over a three-year period.
“In the 25 years that the American Lung Association has been doing our ‘State of the Air’ report, we have seen incredible improvement in the nation’s air quality. Unfortunately, more than 131 million people still live in places with unhealthy levels of air pollution” said Ashley Lyerly, Senior Director of Advocacy for the American Lung Association. “Climate change is making air pollution more likely to form and more difficult to clean up. So, there are actions we can and must take to improve air quality, including calling on EPA to set long-overdue stronger national limits on ozone pollution.”
This year’s report includes air quality data from 2020-2022 and is updated to reflect the new annual particle pollution standard that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized in February.
It was the third consecutive report in which the Jacksonville metro area received an “A” grade for ozone smog but it was a slightly different story when it came to particle pollution.
The American Lung Association measures that two ways and Jacksonville ranked 84th and 124th worst in the nation. That’s a “B” grade.
Kevin Stewart, director of Environmental Health at The American Lung Association, joined us on The Morning Show to explain what exactly the grades mean for the quality of air in Jacksonville.
See the full report results and sign the petition at Lung.org/SOTA.