Miami air pollution on the rise, but still considered healthy
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Blame it on increased traffic, tourism or stronger Saharan dust storms, but Miami's air quality has worsened slightly in recent years.
Driving the news: Measured by fine particle pollution, the metro area's air quality worsened by about 30% between 2015 and 2021 — though it is still considered healthy by federal standards.
Why it matters: Fine particles generated from sources like burning fossil fuel can enter our bodies when we breathe, making their way to the lungs or bloodstream and causing health problems, Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick and Kavya Beheraj write.
- They are linked to nearly 11,000 excess deaths across the U.S. annually, by one estimate.
- Non-white and low-income Americans are at a higher risk of death from exposure to fine particle pollution compared to other groups, per Nature.
By the numbers: The three-year rolling annual average concentration of fine particle pollution in the Miami metro area was 7.1 micrograms per cubic meter as of 2021 (the latest year with available data), compared to 5.5 in 2015.
- Our air pollution had been declining since being recorded at 7.2 in 2012, but it's been steadily climbing after hitting a low in 2015.
- Concentrations below 12 micrograms per cubic meter are considered healthy, the EPA says — though it is seeking to tighten that standard.
What they're saying: UM public health sciences professor Naresh Kumar tells Axios that our recorded air pollution doesn't alarm him because it's still below the EPA standard.
- However, the EPA's data collection doesn't effectively monitor community exposure because there are just two monitoring sites in the entire Miami-Dade County, he says.
- There may be neighborhoods near busy highways, for example, whose air quality is far worse than the EPA sample shows.
Between the lines: Kumar, who monitors air quality at UM campuses, recommends utilizing mobile air-quality monitors to accurately survey our area: "It varies from neighborhood to neighborhood and community to community."
Pro tip: Being on the coast improves Miami's air quality. Kumar recommends visiting a natural beach like Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park — away from cruise ships — to find the purest air in the city.