Much of the U.S. has made “great progress” in cleaning up the air, according to the American Lung Association’s annual report, The State of the Air 2011. “More than half of the country’s most-smog-polluted cities experienced their best year yet,” said researchers, although they noted there’s still a lot of work to do.

In terms of particle pollution, cities like Bakersfield, CA, Phoenix, Pittsburgh and Birmingham, AL rank among the worst. Some of the cleanest cities were on the Florida peninsula and in the mountains of the West. They range from Santa Fe, NM to Bangor, ME and down the coast to cities like Fort Myers, Melbourne, FL and even Orlando.

But air pollution in one city is not confined to that city or surrounding area, unfortunately. It can spread great distances through the atmosphere. The California Environmental Protection Agency notes that air pollution in Asia is slowing the clean air process in California.

South Florida often feels the effects, usually in summer, of Saharan dust that travels across the Atlantic Ocean.

Which brings us to the issue of air pollution in China. Under pressure, the Chinese government announced this month that it would begin releasing measurements of tiny particulates in the atmosphere — particulates that measure 2.5 microns or less and therefore can penetrate deeply into the lungs. This is called the PM 2.5 reading.

You have to believe that all governments have a tendancy to under-report pollution, just like it’s in government’s best interest to over-state GDP or under-estimate unemployment. But environmentalists are particularly skeptical of pollution reports from Beijing, as well they should be in a country that has virtually complete control over the media.

By reputation, China has a lax attitude toward air pollution standards which is one reason why so much industrial production has gravitated there. Cheap labor is a reason but it’s not the only reason. Read more...