Tuesday, October 15, 2024
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality issued an Ozone Action Day for the Dallas-Fort Worth area for Thursday and Friday, Oct. 10 and 11 with moderate levels of Ozone persisting for the rest of the week and then steadily improving.
Atmospheric conditions were favorable for producing high levels of ozone air pollution in the Dallas-Fort Worth area last week. The TCEQ advises that readers can help prevent ozone pollution by sharing a ride, walking or riding a bicycle, taking their lunch to work, avoiding drive-through lanes, conserving energy, and keeping vehicles properly tuned.
Ozone, sometimes referred to as smog, is a gas that is formed in the atmosphere when three atoms of oxygen combine. The chemical structure of ozone is the same wherever it is found; however, there are two categories of ozone: stratospheric ozone and ground-level ozone.
Ground-level ozone is of particular importance because it is a respiratory toxic agent that can cause acute respiratory health effects when people breathe high concentrations of it over several hours. These effects include decreased lung function and pain with deep breaths, and aggravated asthma symptoms.
Summer days in Texas can be conducive for ozone formation as high-pressure systems dominate our local weather patterns, giving us clear skies and stagnant winds. Ozone mainly forms in the highest concentrations on warm, sunny days with light wind speeds and low relative humidity which allows more of the pollutant to form and accumulate.
Ozone Action Day forecasts are made daily by TCEQ meteorologists during the ozone-forecast season, March through October in D-FW. Readers can find air quality forecasts from the TCEQ online at www.tceq.texas.gov/airquality/monops/forecast_today.html.
