Table 7-7: Air Pollution in the 50 Largest Metropolitan Areas: 1999-2003
Table 7-7: Air Pollution in the 50 Largest Metropolitan Areas: 1999-2003
(Number of days with AQI values greater than 100)
| Metropolitan area | AQI days > 100 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | |
| Atlanta, GA | 66 | 30 | 14 | 30 | 11 |
| Austin-San Marcos, TX | 8 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 3 |
| Baltimore, MD | 40 | 16 | 26 | 39 | 10 |
| Boston, MA-NH | 8 | 1 | 12 | 13 | 3 |
| Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY | 8 | 5 | 13 | 21 | 7 |
| Chicago, IL | 14 | 1 | 16 | 20 | 4 |
| Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | 26 | 9 | 6 | 26 | 7 |
| Cleveland-Lorain-Elyria, OH | 20 | 4 | 17 | 29 | 6 |
| Columbus, OH | 21 | 6 | 7 | 19 | 5 |
| Dallas, TX | 25 | 22 | 16 | 15 | 12 |
| Denver, CO | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 17 |
| Detroit, MI | 14 | 3 | 16 | 21 | 7 |
| Fort Lauderdale, FL | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Honolulu, HI | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | U |
| Houston, TX | 51 | 43 | 28 | 23 | 30 |
| Indianapolis, IN | 24 | 4 | 8 | 23 | 11 |
| Jacksonville, FL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kansas City, MO-KS | 3 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 10 |
| Las Vegas, NV-AZ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA | 19 | 45 | 37 | 35 | 61 |
| Louisville, KY-IN | 44 | 10 | 10 | 26 | 7 |
| Memphis, TN-AR-MS | 35 | 24 | 13 | 16 | 9 |
| Miami, FL | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI | 17 | 4 | 12 | 12 | 8 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| New Orleans, LA | 18 | 17 | 5 | 2 | 8 |
| New York, NY | 25 | 11 | 16 | 30 | 7 |
| Norfolk-VA Beach-Newport News, VA-NC | 16 | 5 | 6 | 15 | 4 |
| Oklahoma City, OK | 4 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Orlando, FL | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Philadelphia, PA-NJ | 32 | 17 | 27 | 33 | 13 |
| Phoenix-Mesa, AZ | 10 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
| Pittsburgh, PA | 23 | 4 | 19 | 28 | 7 |
| Portland-Vancouver, OR-WA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Providence-Fall River-Warwick, RI-MA | 2 | 2 | 10 | 9 | 4 |
| Richmond-Petersburg, VA | 21 | 5 | 12 | 21 | 3 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino, CA | 96 | 98 | 92 | 96 | 102 |
| Sacramento, CA | 40 | 31 | 35 | 39 | 36 |
| St. Louis, MO-IL | 29 | 16 | 14 | 32 | 11 |
| Salt Lake City-Ogden, UT | 4 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 3 |
| San Antonio, TX | 9 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 4 |
| San Diego, CA | 16 | 14 | 17 | 13 | 6 |
| San Francisco, CA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| San Jose, CA | 3 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 6 |
| Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | 9 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Tucson, AZ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Tulsa, OK | 13 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 7 |
| Washington, DC-MD-VA-WV | 39 | 11 | 22 | 34 | 8 |
| West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, FL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
KEY: AQI = Air Quality Index; U = data are not available.
NOTES: The Air Quality Index (AQI) integrates information on 5 major pollutants (particulate matter less than 10 microns in diameter, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone, and nitrogen dioxide, and for 2000-2003 particulate matter less than 2.5 microns in diameter is also included as a sixth major pollutant) across an entire monitoring network into a single number that represents the worst daily air quality experienced in an urban area. An AQI greater than 100 indicates that at least 1 criteria pollutant exceeded air quality standards on a given day; therefore, air quality would be in the unhealthful range on that day.
SOURCES:
All data except Honolulu: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air and Radiation, Air Trends, Factbook and Related Information, available at http://www.epa.gov/airtrends/ as of Dec. 16, 2005.
Honolulu: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, National Air Quality and Emissions Trends Report, 2002 (Research Triangle Park, NC: 2003), table A-17. Available at http://www.epa.gov/airtrends/ as of Dec. 16, 2005.