BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Birmingham’s air quality worsened in the American Lung Association’s latest State of the Air report, which gave the greater metro area an F for ozone pollution and a C for short-term particle pollution, according to a report released in late April.
The group said the report uses air quality data from 2022 through 2024 to grade metro areas on unhealthy levels of ozone and particle pollution.
The findings land as air quality politics remain in flux under the Trump administration, which environmental groups say has weakened federal pollution oversight and made it harder to rely on Washington for strong clean-air enforcement. The Lung Association’s Alabama release said federal actions are threatening progress in protecting children from air pollution.
Vehicle traffic is one of the major contributors to Birmingham’s ozone problem, along with larger regional pollution sources, according to local and environmental groups that track the issue. Eco Birmingham says motorized transportation is a main cause of the city’s air pollution, while GASP says vehicles are a major contributor to nitrogen oxides, a precursor to ozone formation.
Birmingham’s geography can make the problem worse. The city sits in a valley, where heat, sunshine and stagnant summer air can trap pollutants near the ground, intensifying smog and particle pollution, according to local environmental reporting.
The American Lung Association said the Birmingham-Cullman-Talladega metro area had six unhealthy ozone days a year in the newest report, up from five in the prior year, and that the area ranked 46th out of 226 metro areas for ozone pollution.
The group’s Alabama report also warned that state agencies are facing limits as federal rules are rolled back, and it cited state legislation that further restricts how agencies can regulate air and water.