by June Blotnick Today marks the beginning of National Air Quality Awareness Week sponsored by the EPA, the CDC, and other partners. The theme this year is Better Air, Better Health and the goal is to promote air quality awareness and encourage people to check the Air Quality Index (AQI) daily. I encourage you to...

by Calvin Cupini Equipped with air quality sensors, Charlotte’s Historic West End is trying to reverse decades of environmental injustice. During the separate-and-unequal era of Jim Crow segregation, African American neighborhoods all over the country faced racially targeted land-use decisions. These policies pushed communities into areas with fewer resources that were often at greater risk...

by Rachel McIntosh-Kastrinsky It’s National Public Health Week (NPHW) and what better time to celebrate public health than in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Public health professionals around the world are on the frontlines working hard to combat the coronavirus. People across the nation are doing their part by staying home, practicing social distancing,...

by Calvin Cupini Each day brings a new understanding of the challenge we face with COVID-19. Here at Clean Air Carolina, we are washing our hands, working remotely, and unfortunately canceling a few events, like in-person Citizen Science Month activities in April. We continue to work toward a healthy atmosphere for all from a safe...

by Stephanie Cleland In February, Medical Advocates for Healthy Air (MAHA) attended and tabled at the 41st Annual Minority Health Conference in Chapel Hill. The inspiring keynotes and interesting side sessions emphasized how much work is still needed to achieve health equity. Discussions with attendees about the work of Clean Air Carolina and MAHA shone a...

by Dr. Aaron Levy Climate change and air pollution affect everyone. But children, the elderly, and those with chronic illnesses like asthma are most vulnerable to the negative consequences. We often can’t see the impact air quality has on children’s health, making it challenging to explain. As a pediatrician, I seek to make the issue...

by Jessica Jones “We are a community of learners, who through relationships are building awareness of environmental, racial, social, and economic inequities. This knowledge inspires us to serve with our communities to advocate, to heal, and to ‘lift as we climb.'” I have the privilege of exploring science with the most passionate, curious group of...

by Julia Krauchanka, Bill Schlesinger, and H. Kim Lyerly Every person breathes thousands of gallons of air each day, making air the greatest potential source of toxic exposure known to humankind. Occupational exposure to air contaminated with the toxics found in coal or radioactive dust can lead to recognized health conditions such a black lung...

  by Mary Stauble October 31 isn’t just Halloween. It also marks the official end of ozone season in North Carolina (March 1 – October 31). Ozone is a colorless gas that occurs naturally in the Earth’s stratosphere, where it helps protect us from harmful ultraviolet rays. Down at ground level, however, ozone is a...

by Calvin Cupini Communities in Charlotte’s Historic West End frequently live in close proximity to major sources of harmful air pollution. For the past several years Clean Air Carolina has been partnering with community residents to tackle this environmental justice challenge, working together to monitor local air quality, convene stakeholders, write reports, and hold meetings...