September 1, 2008
Area residents can now have the South Coast Air Quality Management
District’s (AQMD’s) local air quality forecast notifications e-mailed to
them directly, and on a daily basis, by participating in the U.S
Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) EnviroFlash program.
EnviroFlash is a free system that the EPA has partnered with AQMD on to
provide the public with easy access to national and local air quality
information. Your e-mail notification will show your forecast, tips for
limiting your exposure to pollution and helpful hints for reducing your own
contribution to air pollution. Signing up is easy. Go to EnviroFlash at
www.enviroflash.info and just set your preferences and you can get a
message every day, or only on days when air pollution reaches a certain
level.
In our busy world it can be easy to forget
to check the air quality forecast. That’s where EnviroFlash can help.
Your notification will show your forecast, tips for limiting your exposure
to pollution and helpful hints for reducing your own contribution to air
pollution. Receiving this information is very important during our
current local smog season (May 1 until October 3), especially for parents,
teachers, coaches, day care providers, and anyone who supervises active
children, adults, the elderly, and those with respiratory disease such as
asthma, and heart and cardiovascular diseases.
Air
quality affects how you live and breath. Knowing your air quality forecast
and understanding the Air Quality Index (AQI) can help you plan your daily
activities and reduce your exposure to pollution. The AQI is the color-based
index for reporting daily air quality; including how clean or polluted the
outdoor air is in a specific location and what associated health effects may
result for the local population.
Current air quality readings and forecasts for the entire basin can also
still be obtained from the AQMD web page at
www.aqmd.gov/smog, or by phoning the automated voice recording system at
1-800-288-7664.
For more information, contact Kevin Durkee at (909) 396-3168.
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