Drivers in Ohio, Arizona, and California were urged to stay home today. All three states issued this warning because of air quality concerns–though the issues are very different.
The Ohio air quality warning
According to The Mirror, Northeast Ohio’s Areawide Coordinating Agency issued a dire advisory on “fine particles” in the air. “If you are in the sensitive groups category of children, the elderly and those with breathing difficulties, please monitor your activity.”
This after Ohio and Michigan faced a week of air quality warnings thanks to smoke from Canadian wildfires. While Ohio residents are staying home for their own health, Arizona is telling residents that when they commute they are creating the problem.
The Arizona air quality warning
Meanwhile, residence of the Phoenix, Arizona, metro area received their own warning. The advisory said, “Ozone is an air contaminant which can cause breathing difficulties for children, older adults, as well as persons with respiratory problems.”
Ozone is a smog gas. To clear up the ozone, officials are urging Phoenix’s 1.65 million residents to “drive less, bike, walk, or work from home.”
The California air quality warning
On Sunday, June 15th, the National Weather Service warned Southern California residents about dangerous air quality in the Coachella Valley and San Gorgonio Pass near Banning. This inland area between Los Angeles and San Diego is not experiencing smog, wildfire smoke, or industrial pollution. The NWS explained: “The South Coast AQMD has issued an air quality alert due to harmful levels of particle pollution from windblown dust.”…