What state and what city right now,,,have the cleanest air in the country?

[Stuart G]

Please..let's not count the North Pole...but what about the 50 states?..and what city is the best?...

Yes, the government in all states, tests the air all over. Some states test more places, but which place at 9:15 Eastern Time. has the cleanest air? guess.

[jberryhill]

1. I didn't know the North Pole was in this country

[Stuart G]

3. In the chart that I looked at, which was an Alaska Chart..

the North Pole was a zero - 0....I didn't know that either, why would anyone go there to measure?...I ain't in charge...I just search the internet for ideas that keep me busy and are interesting.

[GeorgeGist]

2. Barrow, AK

[Stuart G]

4. That city is not being measured at this time..not on the list

[Stuart G]

5. Here is a link for the very worst, dirtest air in the U.S.A right now

https://www.airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.main

If you hit the above link, you will see that these cities are measured in red..so the worst air is now in Columbia SC.
Why? don't know why..these are the numbers ..


About the Highest 5

Columbia, SC

161


C San Bernardino-1, CA

159


C San Bernardino-2, CA

159


C San Bernardino M, CA

151


W San Bernardino M, CA

151

[csziggy]

6. Melbourne, Florida has an AQI of 17 right now.

[Stuart G]

7. Ok...I was surprised at the 2nd, but not the first..

Cleanest Air in the U.S.A..

Anchorage Alaska.....2

Cleanest in continental U.S.A. (lower 48 states)

Mammoth Lakes, California....10....no I do not know where that is..but it does have 7000 people living there.

[csziggy]

8. Mammoth Lake is up in the mountains near Yosemite

I can see them being cleaner that any place in Florida. I suspect the only reason Melbourne is that clean are on shore ocean breezes.

Here in Tallahassee we're at an AQI of 52. No rain for a few days, air this time of year tends to be stagnant with loads of pollen and humidity.

[Stuart G]

9. Lots of locations near the ocean in Washington and Oregon have clean air..

I know when the air is really clean in Illinois where I live, near Chicago..the number is at very best is 25 or 30..' Today it was over 100 and I could feel it. I live near an expressway, and that is not good for me. And it is a major expressway. I run air filters much of the time when it gets that bad. But sometimes it does get close to 20 and you can really breath clearly and I know this is strange..on those days my mood goes up.

I live about 5 to 6 miles from Lake Michigan.. When there is real strong air from the lake, that is from the East..the air is the cleanest and easiest to breath. When it comes from the Southwest then the air comes not only from the expressway, but from O Hara Airport, one of the busiest in the country. And it isn't just the planes taking off and landing, it is the human traffic in cars and trucks to around the airport. Lots and lots of people going and coming.. When the air is stagnant for a few days, the entire area around Chicago gets polluted. I found out about this by going to the clean air site. I find it fascinating, but that is me....

[csziggy]

10. In the spring when our pollen is really high I feel terrible

Even though I don't test positive for allergies. But I can't spend time in big cities - I feel horrid whenever I visit Jacksonville or Tampa.

In fact, most of Central Florida leaves me felling sick when we go to see family. I can see the air pollution - the horizons are brown, not a clear blue like they are here most of the time. But even in a small city like Tallahassee, I resist spending time outside in city limits.

[Stuart G]

11. I'm with you. I'm sensitive to dirty air..Most people do not know about the killer smog in London.

In 1952, there was a killer smog.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Smog_of_London

It killed 4000 within a few days..and is estimated to have killed another 6000 as a result of the illness that were created from the smog. As a result of that smog, cities began to outlaw coal burning furnaces. Where I lived in Chicago, we had to go from coal burning to oil burning in the mid 50s. or maybe 54 as a result of that smog. As bad as that was, it was a wake up for most of the world to clean up the act...

Gradually coal burning trains became a thing of the past and also in the 70s cars began to clean their act up.
California past strict pollution rules for cars and trucks and the air improved. That is it did become cleaner in California. Also, other states passed laws for cleaner air, and many states test cars for pollution from time to time. Cars have become much cleaner with their pollution and in the last 5 or 6 years we have seen the emergence of electric cars and hybrid cars that get 50 to 60 mph. and run sometimes on electricity and sometimes on gas. I think we have much cleaner air than we did 50 to 60 years ago, but we still have a way to go.

[csziggy]

12. Where I grew up began the clean air movement

Polk County Florida had terrible air quality. I remember cold mornings where the pollution from the phosphate mines combined with the smoke from the heaters for the orange groves. By the time we walked the four blocks to school the inside of our nostrils would be black.

When I read about the London Killer Fogs I was not all that shocked - I just imagined the black fogs we used to get in the winters with inversions a little bit thicker.

After 1970 Florida the Clean Air Act helped shut down or reduce a lot of that pollution but the air in Polk County is still horrible.

[Stuart G]

13. Something else has helped to improve indoor air.."air conditioning"

The filters in some systems trap lots of polluted dirty air. The cooler air is easier to breath and sleep with. I noticed that a moment ago, as my air conditioning system is cooling my home. Right now, outside it is 88 degrees at 10pm local time. Air conditioning has not only saved lives, but made large populations in Florida possible. As air conditioning became more accessible and cheaper, there was movement in population to states like Florida, California, and Texas where populations grew dramatically. There couldn't be large populations in parts of Arizona, California, Texas and southern Florida without cheap whole house air conditioning. We take it for granted. An air conditioner in the early 70s, cost about $225.00 but by todays money that would be over one thousand dollars for a room ac. You can buy a good strong room air conditioner for about $150 to $200 in todays money. So, in the long run over 40 years, the price of Air Conditioners has gone down not up. Oh one more thing, the quality is much better than before.

[csziggy]

14. True - I grew up without air conditioning

It wasn't until I went to college I spent much time in air conditioned buildings and even then there were years lived without any AC. It was miserable much of the time, but it was what I was used to. And I never had the money to go to the coast or the mountains during the miserable summer dog days. I just had to tough it out!

My parents lived without AC until almost 1980 when they moved into a newer house, though even then they kept the thermostat set at 80, it made it easier on them since the air was somewhat filtered.

The air handler in our ten year old house is great - more filters than I ever had before and they do a great job. The down side is that it makes it harder when I have to go outside.