Air Quality & emission Trends

“In recent years, EPA has acted to dramatically improve America’s air quality by designing and developing national programs that, when fully implemented, will achieve significant reductions in air emissions. The associated air quality benefits will lead to improved health, longevity, and quality of life for all Americans”. In addition, from 1990 to 2008, emissions of air toxics declined by approximately 62 percent. These reductions are the result of implementing stationary and mobile source regulations. The majority of the air toxics emitted in 2008 are also precursors of ozone and/or particle pollution”.

“The graph below shows that between 1980 and 2012, gross domestic product increased 133 percent, vehicle miles traveled increased 92 percent, energy consumption increased 27 percent, and U.S. population grew by 38 percent. During the same time period, total emissions of the six principal air pollutants dropped by 67 percent. The graph also shows that between 1980 and 2012, CO₂ emissions increased by 19 percent”.

 

Reference: EPA,2014,Retrieved at https://www.epa.gov/air-trends