FRESNO, Calif. ( KSEE/KGPE ) – Health officials are warning the valley community about a spike in air pollution due to record-high temperatures for this time of year.
Valley Air District spokesperson Heather Heinks expects the unhealthy air to linger around into early next week.
“{During} summertime, we worry about ozone. So, all of the pollution that we make from various sources in the valley, they bake in that hot summer sun and the ozone creeps up in the afternoon. And even though it’s October, we’re seeing that happen,” she explained. “We’re hoping with cooler weather, the pollution also disperses, and we see better air quality as well.”
Heinks said those elevated ozone concentrations negatively impact air quality.
“We’ve got an inversion layer that’s basically invisible, that’s trapping any pollution that’s mixing around in the valley. And so that’s why you’re seeing monitors jump up a little bit with particulate matter exposure and potentially ozone exposure,” she said.
Significant weather events also play a role in contributing to trapping pollutants in the air.