Across the U.S., air quality improved from 2021 to 2022

Each rowcolumn represents a city in the given region and is shaded to match the PM2.5 levels in that city.

A heat map that shows the monthly PM2.5 values for 300 of the largest cities in the U.S. from 2021 to 2022. Cities are arranged by region: West, Midwest, South and Northeast. Months that have poorer air quality occur in the West from July to November 2021, and some of that pollution in July and June blew across the rest of the country. Noted in the heat map is the following annotation spanning July and August 2021: “The Dixie Fire burned nearly half a million acres east of Redding, California, and sent smoky air across the West and the rest of the country.”

The Dixie Fire burned nearly half a million acres east of Redding, California, and sent smoky air across the West and the rest of the country.

2021

July

2022

July

Dec.

West

Midwest

South

Northeast

2021

July

2022

July

Dec.

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The Dixie Fire burned nearly half a million acres east of Redding, California, and sent smoky air across the West and the rest of the country.

July

2022

July

Dec.

2021

West

Midwest

South

Northeast

July

2022

July

Dec.

2021

The Dixie Fire burned nearly half a million acres east of Redding, California, and sent smoky air across the West and the rest of the country.

2021

April

July

Oct.

2022

April

July

Oct.

West

Midwest

South

Northeast

The Dixie Fire burned nearly half a million acres east of Redding, California, and sent smoky air across the West and the rest of the country.

2021

April

July

Oct.

2022

April

July

Oct.

West

Midwest

South

Northeast