January 30, 2005 The MPCA has issued an Air Pollution Advisory for Sunday and Monday, January 30 and 31 for the southern half of Minnesota. This includes the Twin Cities and Rochester. An Advisory means that the levels of air pollution are high enough to affect unusually sensitive individuals.
A temperature inversion over parts of southern Minnesota is trapping particles near the ground. On Monday, south-southwesterly winds will bring additional particles into our area. A change in the weather is expected to help clear the air by Tuesday. Air Quality Index (AQI): the AQI forecast indicates that the AQI is expected to be in the low to mid 90s on Sunday, possibly reaching 100 by Monday. The pollutant of concern is FINE PARTICLES (soot). An AQI near or above 100 indicates air quality that is unhealthy for "sensitive" groups (see below). Health precautions: "Sensitive" groups include those with heart or lung disease (including asthma), adults over 50, and healthy adults and children engaged in vigorous exercise where they breathe deeply. These individuals should reduce or postpone heavy exertion (play shorter games, walk instead of run, rotate players more frequently, etc.) People with heart conditions are especially vulnerable to fine particle pollution. What you can do to reduce air pollution during this advisory: * reduce driving where possible and don't idle your vehicle engine (vehicle exhaust adds fine particles to the air) * postpone activities with small gasoline or diesel engines, which also produce particles * postpone fires in your fireplace and outdoors, which add soot particles to the air To learn more to to check hourly updates of the AQI, visit: http://aqi.pca.state.mn.us/hourly/ For additional information on reducing air pollution, visit Clean Air Minnesota (CAM) at: http://www.mn-ei.org/air/resources.html#FactSheets Elizabeth Dickinson West Side _____________________________________________ To Join: St. Paul Issues Forum Rules Discussion Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [email protected] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
