North Carolinians are breathing the cleanest air in decades, according to new state data from the Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ).
The NCDEQ released its updated Air Quality Trends in North Carolina report on Friday. The report attributes the decline in air pollution emissions to efforts by state leaders, regulatory agencies, electric utilities, industry and the public to address air quality concerns over the last 50 years. The report said carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide emissions in particular reached all-time lows in 2022, the latest year for which data is available from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
“Even as our population and economy continue to grow, North Carolina’s air quality keeps getting better and better,” said DEQ Secretary Reid Wilson. “By controlling air pollution, we are giving every North Carolinian a cleaner, healthier future.”
“Our air quality continues to improve thanks to tireless efforts by our dedicated staff, partners and a wide variety of stakeholders who have come together to implement sound environmental policies,” said Mike Abraczinskas, Director of the Division of Air Quality.
The report said statewide emissions of the air pollutants regulated under the federal Clean Air Act have also declined sharply from 1990 through 2022. Specifically, the report said emissions fell in the following categories:
95% for sulfur dioxide (SO2).
74% for carbon monoxide (CO).
71% for nitrogen oxides (NOx).
48% for fine particles (PM2.5).
67% for volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
The state said the measured concentrations of those pollutants have been below every federal health-based standard for more than a decade, with average concentrations of SO2 95% below the federal standard and nitrogen dioxide 89% below the standard. According to data from the state, CO, NOx and VOC emissions have declined by 81%, 72% and 85%, respectively, from 1990 through 2022, from those on-road sources of air pollution.
The state added it expects to see futher reductions from the transportation sector in the coming years due to increasing adoption of electric vehicles.
NCDEQ in their report state that cars, trucks and other vehicles on North Carolina roads emit far less pollution than older vehicles, which they said is attributed to improved engine and fuel standards and more advanced emissions controls.
More of the state’s power now comes from clean sources such as solar, wind and nuclear energy, and NCDEQ said the state’s transition away from coal for power generation has been a major driver of these changes.
The report also provided these additional findings:
The number of “Code Red” air quality days continues to be low. From 2015 through 2024, North Carolina recorded just two days of “Code Red or above for ozone in the state, compared to 84 such days from 2005 through 2014.
Visibility in national and state parks improved in the last three decades. In 2023, visitors could see as afar as 119 miles at the Great Smoke Mountains Natioanl Park during an average clear day, compared to just 54 miles in 1996.
Net greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion have decreased by 38% from 2005 through 2020.
Combined emissions from federally designated Hazard Air Pollutatnts and state-designated Toxic Air Pollutatns fell by more than 108 million pounds between 1993 and 2022, an 82% drop.
Thousands of people in Oregon have been urged to stay indoors amid concerns over high air pollution levels.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) AirNow map, which provides a real-time snapshot of air quality, showed that air pollution levels around Sweet Home, north-east of Eugene, are in the unhealthy range on Friday morning.
The warnings mean that the risk of negative health effects from air pollution are increased for the general public, as well as vulnerable populations.
Why It Matters
Air pollution poses significant health risks to the general public, in particular for the young, seniors and vulnerable populations such as those with underlying respiratory or cardiovascular conditions.
The EPA warned on its website: “Some members of the general public may experience health effects; members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects.”
“Active children and adults, and people with lung disease, such as asthma, should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors. Everyone else, especially children, should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors.”
State officials expect a rise in ozone and fine particulate levels that will be unhealthy for older adults, children and people with heart or lung disease, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
The agency issued an action day alert at 4 p.m. Thursday that is set to last until at least 4 p.m. Friday. Communities covered by the alert span urban corridor from Douglas County to the south and Larimer and Weld counties to the north, including Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, Loveland and Greeley.
People who are sensitive to air pollution should not spend long periods of time outside or participate in heavy exercise outdoors, state officials said.
Oslo —The world’s first commercial service offering carbon storage off Norway’s coast has carried out its inaugural CO2 injection into the North Sea seabed, the Northern Lights consortium operating the site said Monday.
The project by Northern Lights, which is led by oil giants Equinor, Shell and TotalEnergies, involves transporting and burying CO2 captured at smokestacks across Europe. The aim is to prevent the emissions from being released into the atmosphere, and thereby help halt climate change.
“We now injected and stored the very first CO2 safely in the reservoir,” Northern Lights’ managing director Tim Heijn said in a statement. “Our ships, facilities and wells are now in operation.”
In concrete terms, after the CO2 is captured, it is liquified and transported by ship to the Oygarden terminal near Bergen on Norway’s western coast.
The liquefied CO2 (LCO2) carrier Northern Pioneer of Northern Lights is pictured at Akershuskaia, Oslo, June 17, 2025 in connection with the international high-level conference on carbon management.
STIAN LYSBERG SOLUM/NTB/AFP/Getty
It is then transferred into large tanks before being injected through a 68-mile pipeline into the seabed, at a depth of around 1.6 miles, for permanent storage.
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology has been listed as a climate tool by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA), especially for reducing the CO2 footprint of industries such as cement and steel that are difficult to decarbonize.
The first CO2 injection into the Northern Lights geological reservoir was from Germany’s Heidelberg Materials cement plant in Brevik in southeastern Norway.
But CCS technology is complex, controversial and costly.
Without financial assistance, it is currently more profitable for industries to purchase “pollution permits” on the European carbon market than to pay for capturing, transporting and storing their CO2.
The Northern Lights carbon storage site in Øygarden, Norway, is seen on May 28, 2025.
The Washington Post/Getty
Northern Lights has so far signed just three commercial contracts in Europe. One is with a Yara ammonia plant in the Netherlands, another with two of Orsted’s biofuel plants in Denmark, and the third with a Stockholm Exergi thermal power plant in Sweden.
Largely financed by the Norwegian state, Northern Lights has an annual CO2 storage capacity of 1.7 million tons, which is expected to increase to 5.5 million tons by the end of the decade.
While efforts such as Northern Lights are focused on capturing carbon directly from the most highly-polluting sources — industrial smoke stacks — there have also been efforts launched to capture the gas from the ambient air, an even more controversial methodology.
Mark Jacobson, a Stanford University professor of environmental engineering, told CBS News earlier this year that he was dubious of the motivations for and the efficacy of both kinds of carbon capture, and he said bluntly that “direct air capture is not a real solution. We do not have time to waste with this useless technology.”
Jacobson thinks direct air capture, in particular, is a boondoggle, and more effort should be focused on switching to clean energy sources.
Currently, the U.S. gets about 60% of its electricity from fossil fuels.
“You have to think about who’s proposing this technology,” Jacobson said. “Who stands to benefit from carbon capture and direct air capture? It’s the fossil-fuel companies.”
“They’re just saying, ‘Well, we’re extracting as much CO2 as we’re emitting. Therefore, we should be allowed to keep polluting, keep mining,” Jacobson told CBS News, adding that his stance has not made him popular among many in the energy sector.
“Oh, yeah, diesel people hate me, gasoline people hate me, ethanol people hate me, nuclear people hate me, coal people hate me. They do, because I’m telling the truth,” he said. “We don’t need any of these technologies.”
The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued air quality alerts in Colorado, Texas, Nevada and Wyoming for Wednesday.
The warnings mean ground-level ozone and particulate concentrations are forecast to reach dangerous levels. In some areas, the pollution comes from drifting wildfire smoke.
Why It Matters
The NWS warned that the general public as well as sensitive groups—children, seniors, and individuals with preexisting respiratory or heart conditions—might experience health effects linked to poor air quality in the affected regions.
“Increasing likelihood of respiratory symptoms and breathing discomfort in active children and adults and people with lung disease, such as asthma,” the NWS said.
“Active children and adults, and people with lung disease, such as asthma, should reduce prolonged or heavy outdoor exertion.”
People wait in a queue at a drive-thru food distribution event in Austin, Texas, in 2021. People wait in a queue at a drive-thru food distribution event in Austin, Texas, in 2021. Mario Cantu/CSM/ZUMA Wire/Cal Sport Media/AP
What To Know
In Texas, an Ozone Action Day has been issued for the Houston, Galveston and Brazoria area, and the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area on Wednesday.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) said that residents in these areas can reduce ozone pollution by “sharing a ride, walking, riding a bicycle, taking your lunch to work, avoiding drive-thru lanes, conserving energy and keeping your vehicle properly tuned.”
In Wyoming, an air quality alert for wildfire smoke has been issued until 1 p.m. on Wednesday for portions of the Bighorn Basin, Owl Creek Mountains, Bridger Mountains and Absaroka Mountains.
Wildfire smoke across the Bighorn Basin, especially from the Red Canyon Fire, as well as fires in Idaho and Nevada, will continue to spread across the region on Wednesday.
In Nevada, an Air Quality Action Day has been forecast for southwest Elko County, including Elko City, for elevated particulate matter. The air pollution is expected to be in the unhealthy for sensitive groups range.
Meanwhile in Colorado, an Ozone Action Day Alert has been issued for the Front Range Urban Corridor until 4 p.m. on Wednesday. Hot and stagnant weather will allow ozone levels to reach levels that unhealthy for sensitive groups.
“If possible, please help us reduce ozone pollution by limiting driving gas and diesel-powered vehicles until at least 4 p.m.,” the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said.
What People Are Saying
The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality said in a statement: “The Wyoming Department of Health recommends that the elderly, young children, and individuals with respiratory problems avoid excessive physical exertion and minimize outdoor activities during this time.
“Wildfire smoke is made up of a variety of pollutants, including particulate matter and ozone, which can cause respiratory health effects. Although these people are most susceptible to health impacts, the Department of Health also advises that everyone should avoid prolonged exposure to poor air quality conditions.”
Jonathan Grigg, a professor of pediatric respiratory and environmental medicine at Queen Mary University of London, previously told Newsweek that there are “very clear links” between inhaling particles and earlier death from both respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.
He added: “There are vulnerable groups and classically they are children because they’ve got an extra issue to do with their lungs developing, whereas our lungs are not developing as adults.”
What Happens Next
The air quality warnings are currently set to remain in force until Wednesday afternoon in Wyoming and Colorado, and for the whole day in Texas and Nevada.
Regular updates regarding air pollution levels are issued on the NWS website and on the Environmental Protection Agency’s AirNow interactive map.
Denver is heating back up, with city temperatures nearing 100 degrees Saturday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.
If Denver hits the forecasted 98-degree high, Saturday will tie for the hottest Aug. 17 of all time in the metro area, according to NWS records. Just one degree higher and Saturday’s heat will break the record.
The current 98-degree record was set in 2020.
The heat is expected to peak at 98 degrees around 4 p.m. Saturday before dropping down to 67 degrees overnight, NWS forecasters said.
Chances of afternoon thunderstorms in the metro area are small — close to 10% — and any rain showers that hit Denver are expected to wrap up by 9 p.m., according to NWS forecasters.
“Most will stay dry, but the mountains should see some scattered high-based showers in the evening,” forecasters said. “These will decay as they try to push into the urban corridor given the dry conditions, although they may produce gusty winds at times.”
With the increased heat, an Ozone Action Day Alert has been issued for Colorado’s Front Range — including Douglas, Jefferson, Denver, western Arapahoe, western Adams, Broomfield, Boulder, Larimer, and Weld counties — through at least 4 p.m. Saturday.
Short-term exposure to unhealthy ozone levels can cause coughing; eye, nose and throat irritation; chest pain; difficulty breathing and asthma attacks, according to state officials. Long-term exposure has been linked to a variety of health issues, including lung and cardiovascular disease and premature death.
People in the affected counties should stay inside during the heat of the day, avoid driving gas- or diesel-powered cars until the alert is lifted and conserve energy by setting air conditioners to a higher temperature, air quality officials said.
Denver will cool off a bit Sunday — with temperature highs around 93 degrees — but 90-degree heat is expected to last throughout the week, according to NWS forecasters.
Stormy weather will return Sunday and Monday, but the rest of the week will be relatively dry with scattered afternoon showers, forecasters said.
Colorado has three years to lower ground-level ozone pollution to meet federal standards, and this summer’s hazy skies — caused by oil and gas drilling, heavy vehicle traffic and wildfire smoke — are putting the state in a hole as it’s already logged more dirty air days than in all of 2023.
“Our state has taken a lot of steps to improve air quality, but you can see it in the skies, you can see it in the air, that we still have work to do,” said Kirsten Schatz, clean air advocate for the Colorado Public Interest Research Group.
Two months into the 2024 summer ozone season, the Front Range already has recorded more high ozone days than the entire summer of 2023. As of Monday, which is the most recent data available, ozone levels had exceeded federal air quality standards on 28 days. At the same point in 2023, there had been 27 high-ozone days.
The summer ozone season runs from June 1 to Aug. 31. However, the region encompassing metro Denver and the northern Front Range this year recorded its first high ozone day in May, and in some years ozone pollution exceeds federal standards into mid-September.
The first benchmark is to lower average ozone pollution to a 2008 standard of 75 parts per billion. The northern Front Range is in what’s called “severe non-attainment” for that number, meaning motorists must use a more expensive blend of gasoline during the summer and more businesses must apply for federal permits that regulate how much pollution they spill into the air.
The second benchmark requires the region to lower its average ozone pollution to a 2015 standard of 70 parts per billion, considered the most acceptable level of air pollution for human health. In July, the EPA downgraded the northern Front Range to be in serious violation of that standard as the region’s ozone level now sits at 81 parts per billion. The state must now submit to the EPA a new plan for lowering emissions.
Colorado needs to meet both EPA benchmarks by 2027, or it will be downgraded again and face more federal regulation.
Of the 28 days the state has recorded high ozone pollution levels, 17 exceeded the 2008 standard of 70 parts per billion, according to data compiled by the Regional Air Quality Council, an organization that advises the state on how to reduce air pollution.
That’s bad news for the region after state air regulators predicted Colorado would be able to meet that standard by the 2027 deadline. The EPA calculates average ozone pollution levels on a three-year average, so this summer’s bad numbers will drag down the final grade.
“It’s not a good first year to have,” said Mike Silverstein, the air quality council’s executive director.
Smoke from wildfires near and far
Ground-level ozone pollution forms on hot summer days when volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides react in the sunlight. Those compounds and gases are released by oil and gas wells and refineries, automobiles on the road, fumes from paint and other industrial chemicals, and gas-powered lawn and garden equipment.
It forms a smog that can cause the skies to become brown or hazy, and it is harmful to people, especially those with lung and heart disease, the elderly and children. Ground-level ozone is different than the ozone in the atmosphere that protects Earth from the sun’s powerful rays.
Wildfire smoke blowing from Canada and the Pacific Northwest did not help Colorado’s pollution levels in July, and then multiple fires erupted along the Front Range over the past week, creating homegrown pollution from fine particulate matter such as smoke, soot and ash. Ultimately, though, the heavy smoke days could be wiped from the calculations from 2024, but that decision will be made at a later date.
Still, June also saw multiple high ozone days, and air quality experts say much of the pollution originates at home in Colorado and cannot be blamed on outside influences.
The out-of-state wildfire smoke sent ozone levels skyrocketing the week of July 21 to 27, Silverstein said, but it’s not the reason the numbers are high. The week prior saw ozone levels above federal standards, too, and wildfire smoke had not drifted into the region.
“Pull the wildfires out and we would probably still have had high ozone,” he said.
Jeremy Nichols, senior advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity, also warned that wildfires should not be used as an excuse for the region’s air pollution.
“While the wildfires are out of our control, there is a whole bunch of air pollution we can control,” he said. “I don’t want to let that cover up the ugliness that existed here in the first place.”
Nichols blames oil and gas drilling for the region’s smog. The state is not doing enough to regulate the industry, he said.
“We actually need to recognize we are at a point where oil and gas needs to stop drilling on high ozone days,” Nichols said. “Just like we’re told to stay home on high ozone days, business as usual needs to stop. I don’t think we’ve clamped down on them and in many respects they are getting a free pass to pollute.”
One proposal would require drilling companies to eliminate emissions from pneumatic actuating devices, equipment driven by pressurized gas to open and close valves in pipelines, Silverstein said. Oil companies already are required to make 50% of those devices emission-free, and the federal government also is requiring them to be 100% emission-free by 2035. But Colorado’s proposal would accelerate the timeline, he said.
The second proposal would tell companies to stop performing blowdowns, which is when workers vent fumes from pipelines before beginning maintenance to clear explosive gases, when an ozone alert is issued, Silverstein said.
“There are thousands of these very small events, but these small events add up to significant activity,” he said.
Gabby Richmond, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, said the industry supports the new regulations. She said operators also were electrifying operations where possible and voluntarily delaying operational activities on high ozone days.
“Our industry values clean air, and we are committed to pioneering innovative solutions that protect our environment and make Colorado a great place to live,” Richmond said in a statement. “As a part of this commitment, we have significantly reduced ozone-causing emissions by over 50% through technology, regulatory initiatives and voluntary measures — all in the spirit of being good neighbors in the communities where we live and work.”
“Knock down emissions where we can”
Meanwhile, people who live in metro Denver and the northern Front Range are asked to do their part, too.
When the state health department issues an ozone action alert — which is a forecast for high pollution levels — people are asked to limit driving as much as possible. They also are asked to avoid using gas-powered lawn and garden equipment until later in the day when the sun starts dropping behind the mountains and temperatures fall.
It would be easy to blame Colorado’s ozone pollution on its geography, global climate change that is raising temperatures, and pollution blowing from other countries and states, Silverstein said. But Colorado has a responsibility to do its part.
“We have 4 million people and a big oil and gas field and lots of industrial activity and all of the things related to human activity all in one concentrated location with a great mountain backdrop, but it comes with a bit of a price,” he said. “So it’s up to us to find the strategies to knock down emissions where we can.”
If you have a fireplace in Southern California, experts are asking you not to use it. A no-burn alert has been extended at least through Wednesday as much of the region sits beneath an atmospheric soup of haze and pollutants.
The alert was issued Monday by the South Coast Air Quality Management District for the non-desert parts of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The alert bans any burning of wood or manufactured fire logs made of wax or paper due to poor air quality in the region.
Current weather conditions are contributing to air quality woes, said one expert.
“Basically, the weather conditions that we’re seeing are light winds and not a lot of vertical mixing in the upper atmosphere, which can lead to high levels of fine particle pollution,” said Scott Epstein, a supervisor with the South Coast AQMD.
Stefanie Sullivan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, attributed the poor air quality first and foremost to the “shallow” marine layer causing what is known as temperature inversion: Instead of temperatures decreasing with height, they increase.
“That acts as a lid,” Sullivan said, “so air really doesn’t move up beyond that level, trapping all the haze and pollutants.”
Epstein said the AQMD tracks several pollutants, including ozone and fine particulate matter, also known as PM2.5. The latter type of pollution is highly hazardous to respiratory health, as particles can enter deep into the lungs, causing asthma attacks and other health problems.
Ozone tends to be a bigger issue during the warmer months of March through October due to atmospheric concentrations of the pollutant increasing with heat. Fine particulate matter is a bigger issue during the colder months of November through February; there have been eight no-burn days so far this winter in Southern California.
Epstein said the alerts are issued after certain pollutant concentrations are reached anywhere within the AQMD’s jurisdiction.
If any part of the region crosses the pollutant threshold, a no-burn alert is issued for the entire area. Epstein said this is because emissions, including those created by burning wood, can shift and affect areas with averages below the threshold.
“Poor air quality moves around,” he said.
For Wednesday’s alert, Epstein said two areas were forecast to surpass the threshold: Perris Valley and the Riverside metro area. Other parts of the region are forecast to have conditions near the threshold, including the eastern San Bernardino valley and the Norco-Corona area.
Esptein said the inland parts of the region, especially Riverside and San Bernardino counties, tend to have higher concentrations of PM2.5.
“That’s not necessarily because they have way more emissions,” Epstein said. “They occur west of there and then blow east.”
Fortunately, rain is in the forecast and could help clear out some of the trapped pollution. Back-to-back rainstorms were expected this week, according to the National Weather Service.
“When you get rainstorms, you also get some wind that can clean things out that way,” Epstein said.
For those who wish to view the Air Quality Index forecast, or for real-time air quality updates, visit AQMD.gov.
