Hot and dry weather impacting ozone levels in BR

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - People rarely want to spend a nice, sunny day indoors but for some of you being outside may be hazardous to your health.

“There is smog. The ozone is higher. In the summertime, there is dust and pollen,” Dr. Joseph Redhead with The Baton Rouge Clinic explained.

The hot and mainly dry weather is beginning to have an impact on local ozone levels that then causes The Department of Environmental Quality to declare “Ozone Action Days”.

“It is the hot temperatures, light winds, and dry conditions,” Meteorologist Jeff Morrow added.

Ozone levels are in a code “orange”, unhealthy for sensitive groups.

That means people affected by breathing sensitivities should limit the time they spend outdoors.

“In many cases, it is an irritant to the airways,” Dr. Redhead continued.

People are cautioned to limit their time outdoors as well as taking action to help reduce emissions that contribute to ground-level ozone.

Simple actions everyone can take to reduce air pollution include:

• limit driving
• carpool
• bike around
• postpone refueling your vehicle or mowing the lawn until after 6:00 p.m.
• reduce electricity usage

“The biggest change is a weather change. A front moves through or rain chance can flush out the ozone,” said Morrow.

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