The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has forecast a Code Orange Air Quality Action Day for ozone for Monday, July 8, for Montgomery County and surrounding areas.
“Mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the lower to middle 90s should create conditions for robust ozone development and formation into the code ORANGE range during the afternoon hours,” the department said in a statement.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality Index (AQI) provides standardized color codes for forecasting and reporting daily air quality. Orange represents unhealthy pollution levels for sensitive groups of people.
An Air Quality Action Day is issued when the AQI is forecasted to be code orange or higher. On air quality action days, young children, the elderly, and those with respiratory problems, such as asthma, emphysema, and bronchitis, are especially vulnerable to the effects of air pollution and should limit outdoor activities.
Residents and businesses within the Air Quality Action Day area(s) are strongly encouraged to voluntarily help reduce air pollution by:
- Conserving electricity by setting air conditioning to a higher temperature;
- Combining errands to reduce vehicle trips;
- Limiting engine idling; and
- Refueling cars and trucks after dusk.
For more information, visit DEP at www.dep.pa.gov, or EPA’s AirNow website at www.airnow.gov.
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