暗黑爆料

For much of the last decade, air pollution was decreasing. But it鈥檚 now on the rise, particularly in the West.

That鈥檚 according to a recent by the National Bureau of Economic Research. It found that between 2016 and 2018, the levels of fine particulate matter increased 11.5% in the West. California's been impacted the most.

Karen Clay, a professor of economics and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University and the study鈥檚 lead author, says enforcement of environmental regulations plays a key role in the amount of pollution in the air.

鈥淔rom 2009 to 2016, air was improving,鈥� Clay said. 鈥淎nd so perhaps it鈥檚 reasonable that the enforcement actions would also be trending down. The thing that鈥檚 concerning now is that they鈥檙e continuing to trend down, even as air quality gets worse.鈥�

Clay says wildfires and an increase in economic activity are also factors. They add up to a serious public health issue. The researchers found that the increase in air pollution was associated with 9,700 premature deaths in 2018 alone.

鈥淚t is actually meaningfully shortening people鈥檚 lives, and of course if it鈥檚 younger people, then it鈥檚 particularly worrisome,鈥� Clay said.

The authors say the deaths highlight the need for policy solutions to tackle air pollution.

This story was produced by the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUER in Salt Lake City, KUNR in Nevada, the O鈥機onnor Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Montana, and KRCC and KUNC in Colorado.

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