Is Summer Air Pollution Making You Sick?

The warm sun may be part of what drives you outdoors to enjoy the summer, but it can also exacerbate air pollution, particularly from ozone.

That’s why walking outside or trying to jog on some particularly hot days can make it feel like you’re trying to breath through a pillow. It’s also why you might see alerts about air quality, with advice for certain people (and sometimes everyone) to reduce outdoor activity and stay inside.

Actions taken to reduce pollution levels since 1970 have had a tremendous effect, but those trends towards improvement have slowed in recent years, according to Kevin Cromar, Ph.D., director of the Air Quality Program and clinical associate professor at the New York University Marron Institute of Urban Management.

The number of unhealthy air days rose almost 14 percent between 2017 and 2018 in 35 major cities across the U.S., according to data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).