Florida has an extremely powerful economy, which can have the unfortunate effect of adding to the air pollution issues that it faces. With a growing population, large amounts of tourism as well as other factors such as increasing vehicle ownership.

Much of the economy is focused around industries such as trade, transport, utility production, as well as centers for higher education and healthcare. with the mass movement of people focused around these various industries, particularly in regards to trade and transport, there are subsequent depreciations in the level of air quality.

With such a huge population coupled with large amounts of industry, Florida sees much of its pollution arise from these two factors. The mass movement of people requires the use of vehicles, which in turn requires some form of combustion to take place.

It is these various forms of combustion, in both vehicles, factories, power plants and even people’s backyards alike, that are responsible for driving up the PM2.5 count across the state.

PM2.5 refers to particulate matter that is 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter, going down to sizes as small as 0.001 microns across and beyond. Due to this incredibly small size, they present a significant danger to human health when respired, able to penetrate deeply into the tissue of the lungs with ease. Because of this, they are a major component used in the calculation of the overall AQI, or air quality index. Regarding the factors that drive this pollution count up, besides the numerous personal vehicles on the road, numbering in the hundreds of thousands at any given time, there are also larger or ‘heavy duty’ vehicles present. With large amounts of industry often comes the need for large scale importation and exportation, which introduces vehicles such as lorries and trucks onto the roads.

These often utilize diesel fuel, and due to their much bigger size and weight, as well as the fuel they run on, put out significantly more fine particulate matter and chemical pollutants than their smaller counterparts do, although the two in combination are a potent factor in driving up the PM2.5 count even further. Other prominent causes of pollution worth noting are ones such as construction sites, mining areas, road repairs and even demolition sites.

These can all throw large amounts of coarse particles and finely ground dust (PM2.5 and PM10) into the air, as well as leaking dangerous materials such as lead or mercury into the soil or nearby bodies of water. Forest fires across the state or even adjacent states can also create vast clouds of smoke that can travel many miles, often at the mercy of wind speed and direction, settling over cities or counties great distances away.

These are among the main sources of pollution occurring in Florida, with emissions from both factories and power plants also being prominent causes of certain chemicals entering the atmosphere.

Some of the main pollutants found in the air in Florida would be ones such as methane (CH4), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), as well as black carbon, finely ground silica particles and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Some examples of VOCs include chemicals such as benzene, methylene chloride and formaldehyde, and besides being released from polluting sources such as cars or factories, can also be found emanating from household items such as scented candles, a variety of personal bathroom products, as well as any items that contain adhesives or varnishes.

One particularly prominent pollutant to mention is ozone (O3), which is formed from the various oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and other pollutants coming into contact with sunlight and being transformed into ozone, or smog as it is more well known as.

Out of all 43 cities registered in Florida, two of them came in with a ‘moderate’ rated yearly average, one of them came in with a ‘good’ pollution ranking (Fort Lauderdale at 10.1 μg/m³, with a good ranking requiring a reading between 10 to 12 μg/m³), and the remaining 40 cities coming in with PM2.5 readings that fell within the World Health Organizations (WHO's) target goal of 10 μg/m³ or less, for the most optimal quality of air. As such, it can be said that Florida is subject to some acute spikes in pollution across certain cities but maintains a good average across many of its other cities, with only certain months going up in their pollution levels due to both anthropogenic and meteorological reasons.

In July the trade winds south of the northward-moving subtropical ridge expand northwestward into Florida. On occasion, dust from the Sahara moving around the southern periphery of the ridge moves into the state, suppressing rainfall and changing the sky from a blue to a white appearance and leading to an increase in red sunsets. Its presence negatively impacts air quality across the Southeastern United States during the summer, by adding to the count of airborne particulates.

Over 50% of the African dust that reaches the United States affects Florida. Since 1970, dust outbreaks have worsened due to periods of drought in Africa. There is a large variability in the dust transport to the Caribbean and Florida from year to year. Dust events are possibly linked to a decline in the health of coral reefs across the Caribbean and Florida, primarily since the 1970s.

Most of Florida is a long thin piece of land surrounded on 3 sides by large bodies of water.

In the part of Florida where the cities with the cleanest air are located, half of the state is flat as a pancake. There are no mountains, hills or valleys to hold pollutants in any area for any length of time. The general air flow most of the time is from west to east in the areas having the best air.

All of the highest quality air cities are on the west coast of Florida and generally have clean air coming off the Gulf and then moving any pollution in the area, inland.