Palo Alto Online : Poor air quality forces another Spare the Air alert

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Uploaded: Thursday, July 12, 2012, 8:04 AM

Poor air quality forces another Spare the Air alert
District urges commuters to walk, bike, take public transit or carpool to work on Thursday

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The Bay Area Air Quality Management District has announced that Thursday, July 12, will be another "Spare the Air" day.

The district issues Spare the Air alerts when the forecast indicates that ozone pollution may reach unhealthy levels. To avoid creating more pollution, Bay Area residents are encouraged to walk, bike, take public transit or carpool to work instead of driving alone. There is a wood-burning ban in place on Thursday, and no free transit rides are being offered.

Air district officials are also advising residents to avoid outdoor activities during the hottest part of the day, when air quality is the worst. They point out that smog can cause throat irritation, congestion and could trigger asthma.

Thursday's Spare the Air alert is the third consecutive alert this summer and the fourth so far this year. More information is available by visiting www.sparetheair.org or calling (800) HELPAIR (435-7247).

— Bay City News Service

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Comments

Posted by What's-Going-On-Here?, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Jul 12, 2012 at 8:45 am

The link above points to a web-site that provides some numbers that are supposed to represent some measurements somebody, somewhere, made of various air quality. Palo Alto's number for today is 38--which is in the "Good" range.

Only one out of the five zones listed has a number larger than 100, which is supposed to be bad. The Eastern District shows 101, which is just over the line.

This call for "Spare the Air" seems a little odd, when the majority of the 5-zones are not anywhere close to 100.

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Posted by pollution, a resident of the Adobe-Meadows neighborhood, on Jul 12, 2012 at 8:52 am

Wind conditions cause pollution on the peninsula to collect in the east bay. Reducing pollution on the peninsula will help to save people's health in the east bay. Sometimes wind conditions are different and we will hope that the east bay people pitch in to improve air quality on the peninsula.

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