SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) – The Utah Division of Air Quality is now offering a three-day forecast of ozone activity so the public can be proactive in helping the quality of air.
Even though summer is the ideal part of the year to spend outdoors, director of DAQ Bryce Bird said, “Smoggy conditions, however, can make it unpleasant and even unhealthy at time. It’s important for people to check air quality in the summer to protect their health and also to make choices to prevent the pollution from getting worse.”
According to DAQ, ozone pollution comes from vehicle emissions and industrial sources combining with sunlight and heat to create smoggy conditions that are unsafe for people to breathe. With things heating up in Utah, DAQ is concerned the poor air condition could become a problem which is where their new ozone forecast comes in.
DAQ’s newly instated color-coded three-day forecast covers several Utah counties, including Salt Lake, Davis, Cache, Weber, Utah, Box Elder, Tooele, and Washington. A “green” day would indicate good air quality whereas a “red” day would imply critical pollution levels which could be considered unhealthy. “Yellow” means that pollution is building up.
With these color-coded forecasts, DAQ hopes they will not only discourage the public against using gasoline and diesel powered engines on “yellow” and “red” days, but also encourage less of those activities even on “green” days to ensure better air quality all around.
To see the three-day forecasts and more information, please visit
http://www.airquality.utah.gov.
---Information from: The Utah Division of Air Quality
