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Population: 711, 463

I chose Denver because my sister moved there a few years ago and I know it's a beautiful city despite its pollution problems.

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The Denver Botanic Gardens feature thousands of species of plants, including Venus fly traps and cacti! Not only acting as a conservatory, the Gardens also host concerts, themed events, and other activities friendly for adults and children.

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Red Rocks Amphitheater has hosted The Beatles, Daft Punk, Radiohead, Coldplay, and many other bands since its creation in 1941. The land also features many hiking trails with stunning views and difficulty levels ranging from beginner to extreme.

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Originally built as a Lutheran church in the early 1900s, this 20th-century building has recently taken on a new life as a dedicated place of worship and recognition of "Elevationism", a religion dedicated to the spiritual benefits of cannabis.

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Denver, CO frequently experiences snow storms, hail storms, as well as the occasional tornado. A hail storm struck Denver as recently as this June, injuring over 100 people with "golf-ball sized" ice chunks. A blizzard hasn't hit Denver since 1913, when the city received 45.7 inches of snow over four days. Since 1950, 17 tornadoes have struck Denver, including one in 1988 that killed eight people, damaged 85 buildings, and cut a 2.5-mile-long path through the southern part of the city. Minor tornadoes have touched down as recently as 2015 when an EF-1 made landfall for a few minutes. However, due to Denver's proximity to the Rocky Mountains truly destructive storm cells simply don't have the time to form before they hit the town, so for now Denver is protected from the most extreme weather.

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It's widely accepted that the best time to visit Denver is during the summer months, typically from mid-June to early September. Although it can be hot and humid during this time, you're likely to avoid extreme weather and cold temperatures. Denver's peak tourism score is in the first week of July when there might be warm, clear, and cloudless days.

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Denvers cold season begins in early November, with snowfall starting as early as mid-October. This also marks the beginning of the dry season, both lasting until early March, where the average temperature is as low as 35.25 F and the precipitation hits its lowest of the year with only 2 days experiencing precipitation in January. In April, temperatures begin to warm up again until they reach their peak in July and slowly decline again until October with an overall average temperature of 74 over the hot season. Around the same time, precipitation begins increasing until it peaks in May with 8 days experiencing precipitation and again in July with 9 days experiencing precipitation. October and March act as transition months between the cold/dry season and the hot/wet season, although there are always deviations, such as when it snowed in June 2014 and when it hit 82 F in November 2017.

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Emissions from trucks, trains, planes, cars, and all other motor vehicles are the largest contributors to Denver's air pollution. More so, stationary pollutants such as the Comanche Generation Station or the Suncor Energy Oil Renifery heavily contribute to Denver's poor air quality. Recently, fracking projects have begun to pop up in towns surrounding Denver. This, as well as the worsening emissions from Denver International Airport, means nothing good for the air quality.

Wildfires that burn through dry forests also contribute heavily to air pollution.

All of this creates a layer of smog in the city which, although not as severe as LA's, is still a growing issue. Smog can cause respiratory disorders, cardiovascular dysfunction, neurological disorders, and even cancer.

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The Comanche Generating Station, a power generation unit, releases more than 9 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year. They also release harmful amounts of nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide, both of which are main sources of ozone.

Many other coal-fired power plants thrive in CO as well as numerous refining facilities that release almost 15 million tons of hydrogen cyanide.

As of 2022, Denver was rated an "F" by the American Lung Association due to experiencing too many unhealthy ozone days and exceeding the federal limit of 3.2 days. These ozone days can cause breathing troubles, chest pain, coughing, and airway inflammation.

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In April 2020, the city and county of Denver created an action plan to encourage the creation and buying of electric vehicles. They did this with the hope of growing their share of electric vehicle registrations to 15 percent by 2025 and 30 percent by 2030. The final goal is to electrify all vehicles by 2050 with the goal of reducing greenhouse gasses.

The plan includes offering discounts or specialized payment plans based on economic status.

However, so far people are not buying EVs at the rate they need to for this goal to be accomplished. So far, market projections predict that Denver will only reach 1/3 of their goal by 2030. Not only that, the city itself needs to implant 1 times the amount of charging ports they have to sustain the amount of EVs wanted.

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PM2.5 Particles are just small enough to penetrate deeply into the respiratory tract, the lungs and, eventually, the alveoli, the tiny air sacs in the lungs. Exposure to these particles can cause short-term effects such as eye, nose, throat, and skin irritation. However, prolonged or severe exposure could result in impaired lung function or worsening health conditions such as asthma or heart disease.

10% of youth and nearly 20% of teenagers in Denver have asthma, and these numbers only grew with increased particle emissions and wild fires.

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IQ AIR

Denver Gov

Denver Post