Soaring temperatures and unhealthful air

4 Jul 2011 · 1 min

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In a KPSP Local 2 news segment, mobile journalist Tom Tucker reports on an extreme heat wave combined with elevated ground‑level ozone that has pushed the Air Quality Index (AQI) for ozone to 109, a level considered unhealthful for sensitive groups. The segment explains how high temperatures accelerate chemical reactions that increase ozone formation, cites a Valley doctor who likens the effect to a sunburn inside the lungs, and references the Air Quality Management District’s classification of ozone levels. Viewers are warned that children, the elderly, and people with respiratory conditions should limit outdoor activity, stay hydrated, seek shade, and remain indoors when possible. The report emphasizes the need for caution despite the arrival of summer.

Worry about, not far from us, but air pollution also a problem today. And as KPSP Local 2 mobile journalist Tom Tucker discovered, some of you probably need to stay indoors.
If you had any doubts about whether summer has arrived, doubt no longer.
Well, as long as you drink a lot of water and stay in the shade.
If the heat isn't enough to make you limit your time outside, what's floating in the air will. It's ozone. Exhaust, industrial emissions, and chemicals. The Air Quality Management District says the amount of it in the air right now makes it unhealthful for sensitive groups like children, the elderly, and people with respiratory troubles.
To cope, I basically stay in. I find anywhere that I could go to be indoors.
A Valley doctor says the heat and ozone interact, creating a dangerous mix to the point it causes something like a sunburn to the lining of your lungs from the inside.
Heat usually causes a lot of interactions of chemicals and compounds air pollution that interacts with sunlight, and that causes ozone to build up.
When the ozone reaches these levels, the experts say just about everyone should limit their physical activity outside.
The air is considered good when the air quality index level for ozone is between 0 and 50. The air is moderate when the level is 51 to 100, and unhealthful for sensitive groups at 101 to 150. Right now, the level is at 109. If you have to spend time outside, just be careful. Tom Tucker reporting, KPSPLocal2.com.