My name is Faith Eherts and I am a meteorologist at AccuWeather. I have a background in air quality forecasting thanks to a college internship that employed student meteorologists - it turns out air quality forecasting is mostly weather forecasting!

Because of this, I am hoping to incorporate air quality into AccuWeather products. Luckily, air quality forecasts are already available for the U.S. at AirNow.gov, courtesy of the U.S. EPA, NOAA, National park Service and other tribal, state and local agencies.

While many of these forecasts are carefully done by human forecasters with accompanying discussions, most are automated and provide no additional information beyond a number. Even at that, most air quality models leave much to be desired.

I hope to add some depth to air quality forecasts, with the goal of making the public more aware of and reactive to local air quality.

People make their way along a pathway at Crissy Field as a haze covers the skyline Monday, Aug. 17, 2015, in San Francisco. Fire officials say that over the weekend smoke from fires in Northern California drifted into the San Francisco Bay Area and east of the city, where it was trapped in valleys for several days, causing hazy skies and breathing difficulties for some. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

The American Lung Association (ALA) says nearly four in 10 Americans lived in counties with unhealthy levels of either ozone or particle pollution between 2013 and 2015.

In the ALA’s annual State of the Air Report, it was reported that 125 million Americans are exposed to unhealthy levels of ozone and particle pollution, resulting in 200,000 premature deaths each year.

With this blog, I aim to contribute to a more well-informed public when it comes to how air quality impacts our health and everyday lives.

Pittsburgh research shows children living near pollution have 2x the rate of asthma as those farther away. https://t.co/TLr9myYel7 @WESALiz
— Clean Air Council (@CleanAirCouncil) June 12, 2017

National air quality standards are based on levels of PM2.5 - particulates like smoke and some kinds of pollution - and ozone in the lower atmosphere on a day-by-day basis.

If either or both of these pollutants are particularly abundant in the atmosphere, the air quality index reflects that threat.

Both PM2.5 and ozone are taken into consideration when an air quality forecast is made since they are hazardous to human health.

While a few other airborne products are also harmful to human health and are taken into consideration in the air quality index, they are usually negligible and will not be discussed here.

Participants run past the India Gate monument shrouded by the haze during the Delhi Half Marathon in New Delhi, India, Sunday, Nov. 29, 2015. Ethiopia's Birhanu Legese and Kenya's Cynthia Limo won the men's and women's elite categories, respectively. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Many times, bad air quality days are obvious. The horizon is blurred in haze; the sky may be cloudless, but white instead of blue; your throat may even be itchy. While you may realize it would be unwise to exercise outside or spend a lot of time outdoors on these days, poor air quality can take a toll on your health even when you can’t see or feel it.

Poor air quality is particularly dangerous for those with respiratory or cardiovascular health conditions, such as asthma or heart disease.

So, the forecasted air quality index is made public to help everybody make decisions based on their individual needs on any given day - just like a weather forecast.

With this blog, I would like to help Americans (and non-Americans, in extreme events) to be more informed on air quality and live healthier lives by providing information on daily and seasonal air quality.

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