--- title: How Climate Change Is Affecting Your Health Right Now description: Temperature increases linked to climate change are worsening air pollution in communities across the country, according to a new report. canonical: https://time.com/5245779/climate-change-air-pollution-health/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-04-19T15:42:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T09:06:52.174Z article:section: Politics og:title: Climate Change Is Making Deadly Air Pollution Worse in Cities Across the U.S. og:description: A new report found higher temperatures are worsening smog. og:url: https://time.com/5245779/climate-change-air-pollution-health/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf51fa14e9e3d86b3/69892e0ae76ad2002a631bb6/smog-los-angeles.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5760 og:image:height: 3240 og:image:alt: smog los angeles og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Climate Change Is Making Deadly Air Pollution Worse in Cities Across the U.S. twitter:description: A new report found higher temperatures are worsening smog. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf51fa14e9e3d86b3/69892e0ae76ad2002a631bb6/smog-los-angeles.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Climate Change Is Making Deadly Air Pollution Worse in Cities Across the U.S. > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=34fb5add-67cd-49dd-a910-fe442d7eb9cb&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The Legal Reasons Why President Trump Won't Take A Stand On Climate Change [Watch (HLS stream): The Legal Reasons Why President Trump Won't Take A Stand On Climate Change](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/mia6Tcb8.m3u8) (2:11)  _Published 2017-09-26. The Legal Reasons Why President Trump Won't Take A Stand On Climate Change_  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Apr 19, 2018 3:42 PM UTC  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Apr 19, 2018 3:42 PM UTC Environmentalists worry that climate change could cause problems with rising sea levels and crop failures in the coming decades, but one group of researchers has found it’s already causing health problems now. Temperature increases linked to climate change are worsening air pollution in communities across the country right now contributing to a range of health problems from asthma to premature death, according to a new [report](http://www.lung.org/our-initiatives/healthy-air/sota/key-findings/) from the American Lung Association. The total number of Americans exposed to unhealthy air rose to nearly 134 million, according to the group’s 2018 State of the Air report. That represents a spike from 125 million in the previous year. Ozone pollution — commonly known as smog — sits at the heart of America’s worsening air pollution problem. Warmer temperatures create conditions conducive to smog formation and lead air to stagnate, keeping dirty air from leaving a given area. The number of days with unsafe levels of ozone pollution increased significantly in 2014 – 2016, the timeframe evaluated in the report, at the same time as the planet experienced the [hottest years on record](http://www.noaa.gov/news/noaa-2017-was-3rd-warmest-year-on-record-for-globe). “Climate change makes it harder to protect human health” the report says. “Too many cities suffered increased ozone from the increased temperature.” The worsening ozone problem hit both the country’s largest population centers such as New York City and Los Angeles as well as smaller communities like Bakersfield and Fresno, according to the report. The findings come as the federal government — led by Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency — has sought to slow programs aimed at addressing air pollution. Earlier this month, Trump signed an [executive order](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-environment/trump-orders-epa-to-speed-air-quality-permits-to-aid-industry-idUSKBN1HJ331) asking the EPA to change federal air quality standards to reduce “unnecessary impediments to new manufacturing and business expansion essential for a growing economy.” Federal law requires the EPA to administer the program in question, the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, using best available science without considering the cost to industry. The Trump Administration’s efforts to stop global warming regulations have been even more aggressive. The EPA has stopped the Obama-era [Clean Power Plan](http://time.com/3981535/white-house-clean-power-plan/), which sought to reduce emissions of climate change-causing emissions, despite estimates that the program would cut air pollution and ultimately save 3,600 lives by 2030\. And a range of other related regulations are on the chopping block, from vehicle emissions standards to a rule regulating methane emissions. ## Transcript As a candidate Donald Trump had no problem giving his opinion about climate change. So Obama's talking about all of this with the global warming, and a lot of it's a hoax, it's a hoax, I mean it's a money making industry okay . >> But as president he won't say what he things and neither will his administration. The president himself during the campaign called climate change a hoax. Have you had that conversation with him? I have not had that conversation with him. He no longer believes what he tweeted during the course of the campaign in years earlier, that it's a hoax? Look, you're gonna have to ask him. I'll ask it one more time. Does he believe global warming's a hoax? Does he believe- You should ask him that. When asked their own opinions, other members of the Trump administration generally agree the climate is changing and humans may play a role. Climate is changing, it always has. Man at this particular point in time is having an effect on it, how much effect is what's at debate here. So why is Trump himself so cagey? Part of it is political, polls show the majority of Americans believe global warming is real and is caused by human activities. Part of it personal, Trump does not like to admit he was wrong about an issue in the past As can be seen from his brief and begrudging admission this his crusade over President Obama's birth certificate was mistaken. President Barack Obama was born in the United States, period. But there's a legal reason too. The Environmental Protection Agency has found that the greenhouse gases, which cause climate change Are a form of pollution that endanger human health and wellbeing. And thanks to a 2007 Supreme Court ruling, that means the EPA must act on those findings. If the Trump Administration were to say climate change isn't real it would be open to lawsuits from environmentalists for not acting on its own EPA findings. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is careful to say that it's real in some form. I indicated That in fact global warming is occurring. That human activity contributes to it in some manner. That doesn't mean the EPA has to keep the Obama administration's plans in place. In fact members of the Trump adminstration have been steadily rolling back regulations designed to fight climate change. They just can't say they're doing that. Because climate change isn't real. 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