Published
05-28-2016
In 2015, the Tucson Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) ranked second out of 12 comparable western MSAs in air quality. Tucson’s daily air quality was rated “good” 78.6% of the time. Phoenix was last among the 12 western metropolitan areas, with only 17.0% of days in 2015 considered “good”. Days are rated “good”, according to the U.S. EPA, when air quality is satisfactory and air pollution poses little or no threat. The EPA uses six air quality rankings: good, moderate, unhealthy for sensitive groups, unhealthy, very unhealthy, and hazardous. The annual share of good air quality days in Tucson increased by 7.9 percentage points during the last year and by 18.6 percentage points since 2011.
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