{"id":1190,"date":"2023-07-26T16:02:43","date_gmt":"2023-07-26T20:02:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/?p=1190"},"modified":"2023-07-27T17:41:01","modified_gmt":"2023-07-27T21:41:01","slug":"what-is-aqi-in-terms-of-air-quality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/what-is-aqi-in-terms-of-air-quality\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is AQI In Terms Of Air Quality ?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today I checked my phone for the AQI (air\nquality index) and was relieved to read that it was 76. As you will note later\nin this article this number is in the moderate range and is actually considered\ngood in relation to all the bad air we have been having lately here in New\nYork. It is fascinating for a nonscientist or meteorologist like myself to\nlearn just what is going on that is causing the astronomical rise in the AQI\nthis summer. Unfortunately, I read that there is another smoke cloud coming in\nagain from Canada which will once again affect our state\u2019s air quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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According to the Washington Post, the smoke\nfrom the Canadian wildfires can damage the lungs when small particles from the\nsmoke enter the bloodstream through the lungs as we breathe. We have learned\nfrom the Covid 19 virus that masks are not the protection we hoped they would\nbe. This is bad news for people with sensitive immune systems such as children\nwhose lungs have yet not fully developed and the elderly whose lungs may not be\nat full function due to certain diseases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alas, the human brain is always finding new ways to solve the world\u2019s problems. Some green groups deny any human intervention to the excess of trees in this planet\u2019s forests. In a perfect world they would be correct as G-D does protect nature but unfortunately when humans interfere with the natural setup of our forests outside intervention is required. Controlled fires are one way to help tone down the number of trees and debris and as you will read later in this article there is a new and creative way that scientists are dealing with the problem of excess trees that even the more dire environmentalists could not object to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Folks are always concerned about the indoor and outdoor air quality around their homes. Without checking the air quality index people can miss finding out about a problem in the air because not all air quality abnormalities are easily noticed. For example, you might be living with false security in your home believing that all is okay with the air quality in it. You try to change your HVAC filters<\/a> regularly and air out your home occasionally by opening the windows to let in some fresh air. But is the air you let into your home clean, or will it make the air quality in your home worse? Not opening your windows could keep bad air in the home so what is a typical homeowner to do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Changing your HVAC filters regularly is\ncertainly a responsible way to keep your home air clean. However, the air\nquality in your home is affected by the air quality outside. Just looking at\nyour dirty air filters will give you an idea as to how much pollution is\nentering your home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are aware that cities such as Los Angeles\nhave poor air quality, and this can be seen clearly by the naked eye by looking\nup at the sky and noticing the haze. There are certain cities such as New York\nthat may have clear and sunny skies on a typical spring or summer day yet\nlately their citizens who are health compromised may feel a heaviness in their\nchest and a burning in their eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Wednesday, July 12, 2023, an air quality\nadvisory was issued by Basil Seggos, Commissioner of the DEC (New York State\nDepartment of Environmental Conservation) and by Dr James McDonald,\ncommissioner of the DOH (State Department of Health) for the entire\nMetropolitan New York City and Long Island localities. The concern at that time\nwas a pollutant called Ozone which caused the air quality index to go above the\nacceptable range of 100.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is\nOzone a Problem?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We have been told by environmentalists that we must protect the ozone layer so how can ozone itself be the issue? There are two types of ozone and surface ozone pollution is not the same as the protective layer of ozone that is needed in the upper atmosphere. Ground-level ozone will cause photochemical smog<\/a> originating from car exhaust and other harmful emissions from out of the area such as the Canadian forest fire pollution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When sunlight reacts with the harmful\nemissions from cars and factories such as nitrogen oxide this type of ozone\npollution is produced. This specific pollution is caused by a chemical reaction\nand is not produced on its own. Although usually colorless, this type of ozone\nproduces hazy skies reducing daylight clarity with the ozone levels lessening\nat night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other air pollutants include<\/a>, Nitrogen dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, Sulfur Dioxide and Particulate Matter. Here are some details of these pollutants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1:<\/strong> Nitrogen\nDioxide is released from fuels from factories and vehicles that burn this gas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2:<\/strong> Carbon Monoxide is released when wood, charcoal, natural gas, kerosene and petrol burn incompletely giving off this odorless, tasteless and colorless gas making it quite dangerous since it is only detected either by physical sickness or CM monitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3:<\/strong> Sulfur Dioxide is\na colorless but odorous gas that is quite smelly when inhaled. When fossil\nfuels such as oil, coal ore smelting minerals containing sulfur burn this gas\nis the result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4:<\/strong> Particulate\nMatter is a combination of some, or all of the above gases and its presence is\nthe indicator of air pollution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nCanadian Forest Fires<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When I was a kid, as the summer approached,\nads were presented on TV and billboards with Smokey the bear announcing that,\n\u201cOnly you can prevent forest fires’ ‘. However, in this century just putting\nout your family bonfires in the park is not going to prevent the type of fires\nthat have been raging this summer in Canada. From some information that this author\nhas put together it seems that these fires do rage each year as there is a time\nof the year called, \u201cfire season\u201d. However, these fires have become\nuncontrolled due to what is going on in the forest, namely the reduction or\nelimination of brush and tree controls. If there are too many trees in a forest\nand together with brush and low-lying bushes then the chances become greater\nfor forest fires to rage out of control. Conservationists are against cutting\nand burning any excess wood in forests and expound that we should leave nature\nalone. However, this point of view is not working because there is too much\ngoing on in the forest to keep the fires under control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The perfect storm of hot temperatures and dry climate conditions have caused the burning of over 27 million acres in Canada. Because of the continuous burning a smoky haze has decreased the air quality not only in this region but in our country as well. Depending on which way the wind blows determines in which state or city the haze will appear. Art Perryman, the director of New York State Forest Rangers, is pressing for the government to modernize the fire management laws. He advocated controlled burning of trees in upstate New York Parks such as those in the Catskill and Adirondack mountains. If the diseased and dead wood and brush would be controlled and burned under specified conditions<\/a> there would be much less fuel for wildfires to take over. Interestingly, controlled burns are permitted for New York\u2019s Long Island Pine Barrens and Albany\u2019s Pine Bush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With such management of forest fires in place,\nNew Yorkers can still benefit from forest parks while keeping the animals and\nother wildlife safe. Also, the sending of our New York Forest Rangers to Quebec\nto help put out their forest fires has given them more experience in fighting\ntheir own state fires in the future. The forest rangers who were brought to\nQuebec gained between five and ten years of experience in the short time they\nwere putting out fires in Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An\nEpidemic of Trees?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Yes, as we noted above, too many trees cause forest fires. Stefan Reinhold, a Boulder, Colorado parks forester, stated recently that there is an epidemic of trees in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. The usual remedy of burning trees can cause uncontrolled fires and foresters are discovering an alternate solution to controlled fires by selecting certain trees to be sawed, stripping the branches from the trunks, collecting the chippings, and putting them in piles. How will foresters destroy this debris?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Novel\nInnovations in Nature to Combat Forest Fires<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The quandary of what to do with those piles of\ndebris has a very surprising and creative solution, that is mushrooms. Fungus,\nanother name for mushrooms, are unique in their ability to transform debris\nfrom trees, plastics, and garbage into nutrient rich soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Forester Jeffrey Ravage of Denver characterizes the process of saprophytic fungi<\/a> feeding off dead organic matter as \u201ccold fire\u201d meaning that these types of mushrooms can do what real fire can do without the threat of uncontrolled fires. \u201cWith the right kind of fungi, we can do in five years what nature could take from fifty to one hundred years, namely, to create organic soil\u201d, says Ravage, confidently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The root of the fungus called mycelium, is being turned into a liquid so that it can be used in larger scales. These liquid mushrooms can be sprayed across hundreds and hundreds of acres of forests<\/a>. Cold fire methods of thinning the forests are still in the experimental stage even though this method is showing success by turning the negative into positive. Even stanch environmentalists may not have a problem with this method of taming the epidemic of trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Air\nQuality Index (AQI)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You may often find that the air quality index\nis included in the weather report on your smartphone, especially with all the\noutside air pollution coming from Canada. This index warns those people who are\nyoung, elderly or have breathing problems such as asthma to stay indoors when\nthe air quality is poor. The air quality index ranges from 0 ( rare) to 500 with\na value of 50 or less considered good and over 300 is considered hazardous.\nWhen the AQI is higher than 100 the air quality is considered unhealthy. During\nthe smoke haze from Canada, the air quality in New York reached over 400.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The air quality index is also displayed in a\nsimplified color-coded system. Here is a summary of such a color-coded chart of\nthe air quality index<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n