Welcome to Air Quality Guide
Quality Of The Air We Breathe Article
. For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for further reading, click here.
The Air Quality We Live In
from:Air quality is extremely important to our health and overall well being. Although it's something we all tend to take for granted, the air quality around us plays a very important role in our lives. We've all heard people talking about the ozone and the ozone layer and how harmful it can be to the air quality around us. Ozone is a colorless gas that's everywhere in the air we breathe. Depending on where you're at when it appears will determine if it's good or bad ozone. It occurs in the stratosphere, the upper atmosphere of the Earth and protects the Earth form sun's ultraviolet rays.
When the ozone is at ground level, it is considered an air pollutant and can be very harmful to our health. Ground level ozone affects our air quality when the oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic compounds react to sunlight. This ozone comes from vehicles like trucks, cars, buses, etc., lawn and garden equipment, construction equipment, large factories and industries, paints and cleaners.
Air quality is tested and determine by the air quality index, which a standardized indicator of what the quality of the air is in one specific location. It measures the ozone at ground level as well as amount of particles in the air, which may include nitrogen dioxide or sulfur dioxide. The pollen count, which will also affect the air quality, is not listed in the air quality index. Certain times of the day will affect the ozone, which, in turn, affects our air quality. In urban environments, the ozone is likely to reach an unhealthy level on a hot sunny day because of the urban smog.
Rural areas can also be affected by unhealthy ozone layers because it can travel a long ways via the wind. There are some sites that give air quality reports on a daily basis so the public knows how polluted or clean the air may be that day. This is specifically important for those that may have allergies and need to know the outdoor air quality conditions before planning outdoor activities.
The ozone can cause health problems by making it harder to breathe, causing pain when breathing as well as shortness of breathing, damaging the lung lining, increases or causes coughing and aggravates lung diseases. Although the ozone affects all of us, some people are more susceptible to problems caused from poor air quality due to the ozone. These may include individuals with lung disease like emphysema, asthma or bronchitis as well as elderly. Even healthy people may occasionally be affected by the harmful effects of the ozone.
Quality Of The Air We Breathe Specific links
Quality Of The Air We Breathe News
Dynamic Air Quality Solutions Supports Asthma Awareness Month - MarketWatch (press release)
Dynamic Air Quality Solutions Supports Asthma Awareness Month MarketWatch (press release) By filtering out asthma triggers like dust, mold, bacteria and odors from the air we breathe, our home air purification systems can play an important role in managing asthma." With asthma on the rise -- it leads to nearly two million emergency room ... |
Meet the Members of Congress Who Want to Force EPA to Lie to Us About Whether ... - Natural Resources Defense Council (blog)
 Natural Resources Defense Council (blog) | Meet the Members of Congress Who Want to Force EPA to Lie to Us About Whether ... Natural Resources Defense Council (blog) What does it say about the character of a Congress that would compel government officials to lie to you and me about the healthiness of the air we breathe? 28 members of Congress [pdf] voted to do that last week when the House Energy & Commerce ... |
Letters: Grading the air we breathe - Houston Chronicle
 ABC15.com (KNXV-TV) | Letters: Grading the air we breathe Houston Chronicle The American Lung Association recently released its 2012 State of the Air Report (http://www.stateoftheair.org/), which uses a standardized grading scale to compare air quality, specifically ozone and particulate matter pollution, between cities in the ... Air Quality Awareness Week Pennsylvania DEP Announces Air Quality Awareness Week Opinion: The prescription for better breathing is cleaner air |
The air we breathe: Air quality in the Valley - WTOV Steubenville
The air we breathe: Air quality in the Valley WTOV Steubenville The good news is both of those areas are now meeting the federal national ambient air quality standards, so they pass the test," English added. "I do think a lot of people can breathe easier," Tillie Ossman said. "I think it used to be a lot worse. |
OPINION: Paying for quality - ABC Online
 ABC Online | OPINION: Paying for quality ABC Online There is a lot to be said for no traffic jams, clean air to breathe and nutrient-dense tasty food to eat. Even if our kids never return to live in the country, all four of them value the experience growing up in the natural world. We also enjoy being ... |