1 RI County Get 'F' Grade For Pollution, New Report Says

RHODE ISLAND — Climate change is making air pollution a growing threat in Rhode Island's urban areas, according to a new American Lung Association’s 2025 “State of the Air” report. The report found that after decades of progress, the air we breathe is getting dirtier in many parts of the country.

The report noted that after decades of progress in reducing the two major air pollutants, 156.1 million people — 46 percent of all Americans — are living in places that get failing grades for unhealthy levels of ground-level ozone pollution, or smog, and fine particle pollution, or soot. They are two of the most widespread and dangerous of pollutants.

In Rhode Island, three counties had data available in the report. Their grades for high o-zone days and particle pollution can be found below:

• Kent County — C for high o-zone days and C for particle pollution
• Providence County — D for high o-zone days and C for particle pollution
• Washington County — F for high o-zone days and C for particle pollution.

“This is nearly 25 million more people breathing unhealthy air compared to last year’s report, and more than in any other ‘State of the Air’ report in the last ten years,” according to the report. “Extreme heat, drought and wildfires are contributing to worsening levels of air pollution across much of the U.S., exposing a growing proportion of the population to ozone and particle pollution that put their health at risk.”

Ground-level o-zone causes more breathing difficulties than any other single pollutant, according to the report. From 2021 through 2023, 37 percent of the population — about 125.2 million people — were exposed to unhealthy levels of ozone. That’s 24.6 million more people than reported in last year’s air-quality study.

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