Relentless list-generating machine Forbes.com now ranks Atlanta the most toxic city in the U.S. because our “combination of air pollution, contaminated land and atmospheric chemicals.”
Not good.
But not all bad.
It’s our best excuse yet to permanently discard our lousy, Brand Atlanta theme song “ATL” and replace it something catchier and more appropriate.
According to a recent study by the American Public Health Association and Partnership for Prevention, Georgia ranks 41st in the nation for health. Vermont, where tree bark is served in schools, is the healthiest state.
[Insert obligatory jokes about Southerners enjoying chocolate-covered bacon and deep-fried Oreos here.]
What’s holding Georgians back from living more healthy lives? Survey says!
• Low high school graduation rate
• High incidence of infectious disease
• High levels of air pollution
• High rate of uninsured population
Other depressing tidbits: The obesity rate has risen from 11 percent of the population in 1990 to 28.7 percent last year. Per capita public health funding decreased 22 percent compared to last year.
Any good news? There’s always good news! And the study has a name for it — “strengths.”
Strengths include a low prevalence of binge drinking at 12.3 percent of the population and high immunization coverage with 80.8 percent of children ages 19 to 35 months receiving complete immunizations.
View Georgia’s Fact Sheet PDF.
The Environmental Protection Agency has unveiled its online database of facilities that release toxic chemicals into the air and water. (Full database is available here.) Search it by zip, city, county or state.
(Thanks to Stacy Shelton, enviro-journalist extraordinaire at the AJC)
How dirty is Metro Atlanta’s air?
Even the bronze bust of Commodore Stephen Decatur on the Decatur town square has a runny nose.
Gather round, all Atlantans, and breathe through a handkerchief for the rest of the day. The Clean Air Campaign has issued a Code Orange Smog Alert — meaning that the air quality in the region today is unhealthy for such sensitive segments of the population as asthmatics, the elderly and people with heart or lung disease. Those groups should limit outdoor exercise or exertion to the early morning hours and late evening.
It’s always about the people. Won’t anyone think of the bees!?! In the meantime, think about using other ways to travel to help improve the region’s air quality. The campaign says that if one person opted not to drive one day a week for every week in the year, he or she would reduce the amount of pollutants emitted into the air by more than 2,080 pounds.
(Graphic courtesy of the Department of Homeland Security)
Air pollution doesn’t just add to our region’s reputation as a smog-laden Mecca. It might even play a role in why honeybees — vital vectors in how we get our food — are dying off at a dizzying rate.
The Washington Post reports on a study that found the scents flowers emit — which are broken down when they come into contact with smog and ground-level ozone — are now traveling shorter distances. Air pollution, the report says, can eliminate 90 percent of a flower’s aroma, and may be contributing to a phenomenon called “colony collapse disorder” that’s become increasingly worse since 2006.
Our sting-happy friends can’t pick up on the scent, lose a food source and their populations subsequently dwindle. That tosses a wrench in the pollination process.
Metro Atlanta, you may recall, recently ranked 6th on the American Lung Association’s list of most-polluted cities.
