What is going on everyone? I hope you are all healthy and happy if you live in
some of the cities on today's list you may not be as healthy as you could be
today we're looking at cities in the United States that don't have the best
air quality actually these are the worst of the worst the way they measure air
quality is known as the air quality index what is that you ask an air
quality index or AQI is a chart used by government agencies to communicate to
the public how polluted the air currently is or how polluted it will be
in a forecast public health risks increase as you get a bad a Qi so here's
the chart they go by Green is perfect it's a nice day to be outside yellow or
moderate isn't the best but it's not bad it's like the air quality that you get
when you're a couple yards away from a campfire maybe orange is unhealthy for
sensitive groups this is like the air quality of a reggae concert red is bad
it is called unhealthy and it's like you're on a tour bus with that reggae
band purple is called very unhealthy and it's like you're still on that bus with
the reggae band and you hit a skunk and pick up some glaucoma patients maroon is
the worst it's called hazardous this is like being
on that bus with the reggae band the skunk is now stuck underneath the bus
the glaucoma old folks are getting wild in the back and the exhaust breaks and
now you have exhaust coming up through the floorboards I hope that clears it up
for you now here's the formula they use we won't be getting into that today
because that could be written in Klingon for all I know I'll tell you what let's
get started on the list here's my top ten cities with the worst air quality in
the US number 10 Chicago Illinois the air quality here in the Windy City
is one of the worst in the country especially the closer you get to the
city if you have sensitive lungs and you need to work in Chicago it's probably
best to live in one of the surrounding suburbs where the air quality is
slightly improved or just don't live here altogether head to Iowa they have
decent air quality and almost zero smog the good news about Chicago is when the
wind comes in off the lake it makes the smog Peoria's problem any major city
with a large body of water get some relief from smog when they get some wind
the air quality during the winter in Chicago isn't that bad the word
months are May through August and I'm looking at the air quality today in
Chicago and it's considered healthy it's not a bad day today's October 11th 2019
number 9 Dallas Texas Dallas has an overall poor air quality mainly due to
the power plants in the area they have recently done a coal power plant cleanup
which has improved the conditions however the city still ranks 15th for
high ozone days out of 228 metro areas and it came in ninth for overall smog
Dallas has a lot of things going on for it considering how large and busy it is
I'm surprised it's not worse I've been to Dallas on what I would consider some
really bad days for air quality and I can tell you you could see the brown air
not really as bad as some of the other cities on this list but it's there okay
maybe it's not brown but it's definitely a light amber I'd say yeah amber almost
like a beer but not as refreshing no brie Washington DC as of April 2009 teen
the DC area received a failing grade for air quality according to the data
collected in 2018 our nation's capital had eight moderate yellow days and two
orange days that isn't great but it also isn't terrible keep in mind some cities
this country haven't seen an orange day in years and obviously the goal is a
hundred percent Green Day's has nothing to do with AB and you know what I'm
talking about you'd think with all the BS in DC it
would be so much worse Washington DC has taken great strides in the air quality
Department in 2011 they had three red days 12 orange days and a buttload of
yellow so they're moving in the right direction it's obviously not the best
jet number seven Salt Lake City Utah Salt Lake City is known for having the
Great Salt Lake but it's also known for having brown skies and 6 coal power
plants in the area these plants are producing dangerous amounts of ozone
pollution currently the city ranks is one of the worst when it comes to smog
pollution there's this one power plant called the Bonanza power plant that's
scheduled to be shut down in 11 years in like 2030 so that'll help out the air
quality Salt Lake City Metro has mountains and hills unlike three sides
of it so it kind of keeps that smog right there over the city by the way the
word smog is a combination of the words smoke and fog and it was first used in
London in the late 1800s so the bad air quality stuff isn't new we just
started realizing it was bad for you in like the 1970s at least that's how it
seems number six Las Vegas Nevada as if cars
buses human regret and despair aren't bad enough for the air quality of Las
Vegas you have for coal power plants within Sin City
a fifth power plant was closed within the last several years make it a little
bit better but still the American Lung Association gives Las Vegas an F in high
ozone days and an F in high particle count with air similar to the air five
feet behind a 72 Impala and the heat it only makes things worse if you're
someone with sensitive lungs may be living here isn't the best idea on
summer days flying into Las Vegas it's not a pretty sight you really hope the
pilots looking at the instruments because you know he can't see the
airport you punched through the clouds you land you look out the window is your
taxi to the terminal trying to figure out where all this smog is coming from
that's when you see a bus traveling down East sunset road with smoke billowing
out of every crack it's on its way to perform at some reggae festival it's
crazy in Vegas number five New York New York although New York has retired most
of its coal power plants the city is still suffering from the effects they've
caused to the environment emissions for vehicles aren't helping improve the
conditions either it is recommended that you walk bike or take public
transportation any place you go in the city at the very least carpool the
American Lung Association gives New York City a big fat F in high ozone days but
this should be expected it is a giant city and it is very busy busy means all
forms of transportation are happening on a major scale
New York City's air quality will never be good for anyone with sensitive lungs
if you haven't figured this one out already
on your own you have bigger problems than sensitive lungs like maybe not
enough oxygen is getting to your brain or something like that because this
one's kind of obvious New York City has bad air quality number four Houston
Texas Houston has the worst air quality in Texas although it only has one coal
power plant it's the largest coal power plant in the
state of Texas that's not where the fun ends in Houston if you go an hour south
you have Texas City which has a giant area of refineries and chemical plants
that looks like a futuristic world in a sci-fi movie that's trying to suck the
last ounce of natural resources out of the planet
before they just leave and give up on the plant that's what this area looks
like the wind off the Gulf is forever sending that crap towards Houston had
enough wait there's more just outside and to the east of Houston you have
another area similar to the one in Texas City that is just dumping crap into the
air Houston is also very spread out and everyone drives everywhere they need to
go they also have a strange amount of uninsured drivers they all need to call
Geico or a quote that's from another video let's move on to the air quality
Houston is in bad shape when it comes to air quality all these things add up the
Houston sucks if you have sensitive lungs number three Denver Colorado
Denver's already a bad place for those with sensitive lungs do the elevation
however it gets worse when you consider that the mile-high City has a failing
grade where high ozone days on average and particle pollution on average and
yearly actually the annual report on that once horrible also get away from
Denver and you'll find some of the best air on the planet Denver is just bad for
people with asthma COPD mesothelioma and lung cancer
far too many days throughout the year are marked as moderate when it comes to
air quality like I said moderates not the best when
you're that high above sea level it's harsh number two Phoenix Arizona Phoenix
carries the nickname the Valley of the Sun and a lot of people think they
should change it to something a little more accurate like the valley the
constant coughs constantly has poor air quality ratings thanks in part to the
coal power plants in the surrounding counties thankfully though many are in
the works of being shut down and converted to natural gas let's hope that
works I mean theoretically it should the sad truth about the Valley of the Sun is
a lot of the air quality stats haven't changed since 1999 most major cities in
the United States have made great strides in air quality
it's like in Phoenix they didn't believe the smog thing was bad for you it's
almost like they were 1940s and 50s American when they actually believed
smoking was good for you or at least how that's how they dished it out to the
general public the American Lung Association gives Phoenix F's in every
air quality measurement they give EPS to at least the valley the Sun is
consistent so that's good and number one Los Angeles California the smog in Los
Angeles is a thing of legend it's like some legendary beast that hovers over
the Las Angeles basin I mentioned this before
but as a kid I was way into Godzilla in my six-year-old brain I thought the smog
was put there as a smokescreen to hide the city from Godzilla I always figured
it worked because he never showed up I thought he was just wandering up and
down the coast looking for Los Angeles could never find it
Los Angeles is known for having the worst air quality in the country they've
had them for years being surrounded by mountains having millions of cars idling
on the freeways every day throw in a couple refineries and the heat of
Southern California you have a horrible place for air quality the American Lung
Association gives them so many FS if you tried to read the report out loud people
would think you have a stutter to make matters worse there's frequently forest
fires like actually today they've got major one outside Los Angeles and one up
in the wine country great sunsets when you have a forest fire but the air
quality drops through the floor I mean worse than it normally is on a daily
basis in general it's just a bad idea to pick up a mortgage in the hills around
Los Angeles alright so that is my top 10 worst cities for smog or air quality I'm
not sure what I'm gonna call this one yet hope you guys enjoyed it hope you
got some information out of it you know your lungs are probably the most
sensitive thing in your body and when you're just inhaling constant bad air
quality it's it's worse than a lot of things that people are doing it's really
bad anyway don't forget all the links below give this video a big thumbs up
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great day be nice to each other
you