Many people believe that air pollution in major cities is increasing cases of asthma and other respiratory diseases.  But according to professor Harold Brown of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, this is hardly the case if the metro-Atlanta area is any indication.  To begin with, the increased asthma that occurred in the last two decades in Georgia came at a time when four of the six main pollutants in Atlanta decreased by 30 to 80 percent, with none increasing.  Even more surprising is that urban areas do not have more respiratory sickness – they have less – with 10 metro Atlanta counties significantly below the state average.  Hopefully, facts like these will help blow through the haze on asthma and air pollution.