| Be a
Partner
Sign up to become an Air Quality Partner:
 Southwest
Lehigh
Valley
Susquehanna
Southeast
| | The goals of the Air Quality
Partnership are to increase the public's understanding on the impact of air pollution,
provide alerts for days with high air pollution, provide health effects information
and guidelines to prevent or reduce exposure, and finally encourage voluntary
actions to reduce air pollution emissions, especially on "Action Days". The
Partnership forecasts "Action Days," or days when the air is expected to be unhealthy
to breathe. Using a color-coded scale, the forecast informs people about the predicted
ozone and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) levels
and any precautions that need to be taken. Ozone in the stratospheric ozone
layer protects us from the sun's harmful rays. But at ground-level, where we breathe
it, it's not so good for us. In the summer, sunlight and high temperatures 'bake'
pollutants emitted by motor vehicles, power plants, industrial manufacturing and
other sources to form high levels of ground-level ozone, commonly known as smog.
Particle pollution
is the term for tiny drops of liquid or small particles of dust, metals and other
material that float in the air. Some particles are large or dark enough to be
seen as soot or smoke. Others are so small that they can only be detected with
an electron microscope. Particle pollution comes from a variety of sources such
as cars, power plants, factories, construction sites, forest fires, and municipal
waste incinerators. |
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