Report: Tampa air quality declining during COVID-19

Tampa’s air quality has declined since the COVVID-19 pandemic began, according to a new study by Filterbuy.

To determine air quality rankings during COVID-19, researchers at Filterbuy used data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to calculate the change in median air quality index, or AQI, from 2019 to 2020.

From 2019 to 2020, the Tampa metropolitan area experienced a 2.3 percent increase in median air quality index, or AQI, which means Tampa had worse air quality in 2020 overall.

The percentage of days with good air quality in 2020 was 72.4 percent — a decrease from 73.2 percent in 2019.

– Kelsey Sunderland, Extensive Enterprises Media