Portland, OR

I know, I am getting pretty good at finding out it is some national something week. This time, it is Air Quality Awareness Week.

A fact: I moved to Portland seeking cleaner air. I have asthma, and the Chicago air was literally killing me. Over the course of three years, my asthma became continually worse living in the city, and I had to make a choice. Luckily, that choice was a no brainer. I had happily moved to Oregon once before, but didn’t stay long as I went back east to finish school because you know, you really need that college degree.

Yes, that last line was sarcasm. I am a blogger after all. That University of Michigan degree has served me well. Well, indeed.

Here is a comparison between Portland’s air quality trends from the last few years and Chicago’s. I am throwing LA in just to laugh at LA.

Portland, Oregon

Chicago, Illinois

Los Angeles, California

I am not picking on Los Angeles. I am simply using LA as the measure for worst air quality in the US, as named by the American Lung Association last year. Don’t get too smug however, as Portland was beat out of the top twenty-five by cities like Miami and Reno.

Anyhoo, the prescribed “activity” for the official National Air Quality Awareness Week is to educate yourself on what causes poor air quality. Woo-hoo, here it is.

Air quality where you live can vary depending on how much air pollution is emitted in your community, how much pollution is carried into your community on the wind, and by weather conditions.

Ozone forms when two key pollutants, nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) “cook in the sun.” These pollutants are precursors to ozone formation, meaning they must be present in the air for ozone to form. Particle pollution can be directly emitted (like smoke from a woodstove), but a lot of particles form when gases react in the air. NOx and sulfur dioxides (SO2) contribute to particle formation.

These ozone and particle-forming pollutants come from a wide variety of sources, including mobile sources, power plants, and industries. Natural sources contribute, too: wildfires and volcanoes contribute to particle pollution, while trees and other vegetation can contribute both to particle and ozone pollution.

Weather plays a big role in the levels of ozone and particle pollution in your community. Sunlight and heat, for example, promote ozone formation. Light winds and temperature inversions both can keep pollution from dispersing. And depending on its direction, the wind can bring in more pollution – sometimes from hundreds of miles away. Geography can affect pollution levels too; mountain ranges, such as those in southern California, can prevent pollution from dispersing.

With sunlight being a major factor in ozone formation, no wonder Portland doesn’t have smog, right?

Still, I don’t know. I really wouldn’t consider reading about smog formation an “activity,” but at least we all learned something. You can find more information for tomorrow’s activity by checking out the website here.

Air Quality Awareness Week, air pollution, ozone, smog, Portland, Oregon, Chicago, Illinois, Los Angeles, California, EPA, asthma