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What does an ozone alert mean?
About Ozone Alert Days Ozone Alert Days mean air pollution is expected to reach unhealthy ranges. Ozone Alert Days serve to notify the public that they should make voluntary changes to reduce their contribution to dangerous ground-level ozone.
Why do ozone alerts happen?
One of the primary causes for these alerts is high levels of “bad” ozone. At the same time, in some areas of the world, there is concern about the lack of “good” ozone, which protects organisms from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays.
What do you do on ozone alert days?
Simple actions everyone can take to reduce air pollution include:
- Limit driving.
- Combine errands.
- Carpool or ride the bus.
- Avoid idling.
- Postpone refueling your vehicle or mowing the lawn until after 6:00 p.m.
- Tuning up your vehicle.
- Reduce electricity usage.
What is an ozone alert in Colorado?
An Action Day for fine particulates, carbon monoxide or ozone indicates that either current air quality is unhealthy or conditions are expected to worsen later in the day or on the next day.
Can I mow during ozone alert?
Don’t mow at all on Ozone Alert days. Electric mowers work great for smaller lawns — and manual tools emit no pollution at all. For gas-powered equipment, remember that 4-cycle engines emit only half as much pollution as 2-cycle (gas/oil mix) engines.
Where does ozone come from?
Where does ozone come from? Ozone is formed in the atmosphere through chemical reactions between pollutants emitted from vehicles, factories and other industrial sources, fossil fuels, combustion, consumer products, evaporation of paints, and many other sources.
What does a ozone do?
Ozone in the upper atmosphere–referred to as “stratospheric ozone”–helps filter out damaging ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Though ozone in the stratosphere is protective, ozone in the atmosphere – which is the air we breathe – can be harmful to the respiratory system.
Why is there ozone in Denver?
Local emissions of air pollutants pushed air quality to unsafe levels. On days when ozone levels exceeded federal health standards, traffic and oil and gas combined are responsible for more than two-thirds of ozone production along the Front Range.
What is the ozone level in Denver?
I-25 Denver, Colorado Air Pollution: Real-time Air Quality Index (AQI)
| Current | Min | |
|---|---|---|
| PM10 AQI | 27 | 10 |
| O3 AQI | 5 | 1 |
| NO2 AQI | 18 | 6 |
| SO2 AQI | 1 | 1 |
How can lawn mowers reduce air pollution?
To avoid lawn mower pollution to the environment, you can consider the following maintenance tips:
- For maximum equipment efficiency, perform the regular maintenance as recommended by the manufacturer.
- Change motor oil regularly and replace or clean the air filters, and conduct periodic checkups of your equipment.
How much do lawn mowers pollute?
The EPA estimates that hour-for-hour, gasoline powered lawn mowers produce 11 times as much pollution as a new car. According to the EPA, each gas-powered lawn mower produces as much air pollution as 43 new automobiles driven 12,000 per year – lawn care produces 13 billion pounds of toxic pollutants per year.
Where is ozone found?
the stratosphere
Most atmospheric ozone is concentrated in a layer in the stratosphere, about 9 to 18 miles (15 to 30 km) above the Earth’s surface (see the figure below). Ozone is a molecule that contains three oxygen atoms. At any given time, ozone molecules are constantly formed and destroyed in the stratosphere.