SkyCast forecasts poor air quality tomorrow

The Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) Air Quality Program has issued an orange Ozone Alert for June 16. This alert indicates that an unhealthy level of ground-level ozone is expected tomorrow in the Kansas City region.

The two most important things residents should do on Ozone Alert days are:

1. PROTECT YOUR HEALTH
Ozone pollution can cause a variety of problems, even in healthy adults, including chest pains, coughing, nausea, throat irritation and difficulty breathing. People who are sensitive to air pollution — including children, older adults, and people with breathing or heart problems — should take special care to limit outdoor activity between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. Everyone should consider scheduling outdoor activities before 10 a.m. or after 7 p.m.

2. REDUCE POLLUTION
More than half of all emissions that lead to ozone pollution are caused by everyday activities such as driving and doing yard work. To help reduce pollution, consider carpooling, taking the bus, postponing mowing and waiting until evening to refuel vehicles.

Ozone pollution is formed when emissions from vehicles, lawn and garden equipment, and other sources react in heat and sunlight. Other environmental factors — such as warm, sunny weather, low wind speeds and lack of rain — increase the likelihood of poor air quality.

Learn more about simple actions to reduce pollution and follow the SkyCast — the region’s daily air quality forecast — at AirQKC.org. MARC issues the SkyCast each afternoon from March 1 through Oct. 31. Find the SkyCast online at AirQKC.org and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/airQKC. SkyCast information is also available via the air quality information line, (816) 701-8287, and from many area media outlets.