I was on KIRO radio yesterday to talk about climate change and the issue of air pollution came up. Phil the News Junkie read a quotation from the American Planning Association saying that as a child the author never saw brown clouds around Mt. Rainier but now sees them regularly.
But the good old days weren't nearly as good as people like to remember them and a quick look at the data show the recollection is likely incorrect. The graph here is from the EPA noting that a composite look at six air quality indicators shows that air pollution has dropped by at least 57 percent in the last 27 years. What's more amazing is that this has occurred at a time when population, energy use, vehicle miles traveled and economic growth were increasing. Technology has made it possible to be prosperous and improve air quality.
Remember also that Seattle's air quality is dramatically better than the national average.
We hear these claims from time to time but they are usually based on anecdotes (like the one above) or using surrogate statistics (E.G. asthma rates are rising, therefore air pollution is increasing) that imply a correlation that is inaccurate. Such claims are usually attempts to justify certain political policies (like spending more on "planning") and have less to do with the actual data.
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