Denver is Top 5 in the World for Worst Air Quality
There's plenty to love about living in Colorado, that's for sure. We like to talk about it all the time. However, there are also quite a few things about Colorado that aren't the best. Unfortunately, especially so for anyone with breathing problems, sometimes that includes our air quality.
You can blame it on the desert, strange allergens, or even on outside factors beyond our control, but it cannot be denied that it can get a little hard to breathe in Colorado sometimes. This is probably one of the factors that led to the new, dubious honor that was just bestowed upon our capital city.
On May 19th, Denver, Colorado, had the distinction of firmly in the top 5 in the entire world for worst air quality, according to the World Air Quality Index Ranking. In case you're curious, we are in the company of places like Baghdad, Iraq and Shenyang, China, which are obviously known for the quality of their air and absolutely nothing else. Still, I'd rather Denver be significantly lower on a list like this.
It probably didn't help that a fire burning in Canada produced enough smoke on the Front Range to trigger an Air Quality Health Advisory from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. This stands in stark contrast to Denver's air quality just four days prior, jumping from a US AQI of 22 on May 15th to the intolerable 171 on the 19th. If you look at the visual representation, we went from a very green good air quality rating to an exceptionally red unhealthy rating over the course of two days. Not a great way to start a weekend, if you ask me.