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Earth

A mix-up means US air pollution is way worse than thought

By Colin Barras

30 April 2018

Âé¶¹´«Ã½. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

US air is getting cleaner, but not as fast as was thought

George Frey / Bloomberg via Getty

Air pollution levels are falling in the US – but not as rapidly as the US Environmental Protection Agency thinks they are.

The US has been (NOx) and carbon monoxide for about 50 years. The EPA keeps tabs on the progress, in part by calculating how technological improvements should change the emissions from vehicles and factories.

But those calculations seem to be overestimating the progress being made, according to at the University of…

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