What is the air quality like where you live?
By firecracker
@sacmom (14192)
United States
June 27, 2008 8:44pm CST
Is it good? Unhealthy? Hazardous? Somewhere in between?
The surrounding city I live in is usually in the unhealthy range (151 - 200) in the summertime. But that's usually in mid to late summer. Since there have been so many wildfires in the state the air quality is already in the unhealthy range and summer just barely begun.
Here is a link to the National Air Quality for those in the US to see what the air quality is like in your area:
http://airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.fcsummary
For those of you that are outside of the US you should be able to look it up online.
So, what is the air quality like where you live? And do you limited your time outdoors if the air quality is bad? My family and I do. I feel bad for my kids as they love to play outside, but I am limiting their time outdoors as it just isn't good to breath air like this.
9 people like this
42 responses
@arkaf61 (10881)
• Canada
28 Jun 08
It certainly is not the best. OF course it is to be expected in a big city with plenty of sources of pollution we can't expect much better. Thankfully there are plenty of green spaces in this city as well that help a little bit there is nothing like living away from the big city. For many reasons and healthy breathing as well :)
Whenever we go camping we can really see/feel the difference. The air feels so clean....
I know I am a city girl - always have been - but my dream is to be able to live far away from the big city to have the healthy effects of less pollution and noise, but still close enough that it is easy to go there whenever I want - around one hour aways sounds great to me.
Maybe one day :):):)
2 people like this
@sweetdesign (5142)
• United States
28 Jun 08
Our air quality is rather good here since we are not experiencing smoke from fires this summer. It has been rainy so that cleans it up some too.
However my uncle lives in Sacramento which is surrounded by fires right now and has dangerous levels of air toxins and pollutants. They have had warnings to stay indoors and only go out if absolutly necessary. Between the normal smog and now the smoke the air is dangerous to breath.
1 person likes this
@sweetdesign (5142)
• United States
28 Jun 08
According to the chart we are in the good to moderate level of air quality here in Jacksonville FL.
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@sacmom (14192)
• United States
1 Jul 08
I'd take moderate over unhealthy any day.
It was actually in the moderate range in Sacramento yesterday, but today it is back up to the unhealthy range. It's so bad outside you can actually smell the smoke as soon as you go out the door.
@sweetdesign (5142)
• United States
4 Jul 08
Yes my uncle lives in sacramento and he says it has been real bad. He has stayed indoors which is good cause he is 72 years young and he walks everywhere or takes public transportation so he would be out in it for an extended amount of time if he were to venture out. He did have to go to the dentist last week but he took a cab so his exposure to the bad air was minimal.
1 person likes this
@sacmom (14192)
• United States
8 Jul 08
Well if it's nice and clear out then that is usually a good indication that the air quality is good. 
@vera5d (4005)
• United States
7 Jul 08
Our was good and moderate, which is impressive since years ago our town had some of the worst because of the steel mills.
I don't think about the air very often, but it is important for it to be good! Many problems such as allergies or asthma or more can come from bad air.
@sacmom (14192)
• United States
8 Jul 08
It's wonderful that the air quality has improved in your area. 
@LouRhi (1502)
• Australia
30 Jun 08
I had never really thought much about air quality till I saw your post. We don't even check the air quality where I live, and if someone does they don't have any info on the web!
I have always thought that I was incredibly lucky where I live but now I feel that even more so. I can not imagine what it must be like not being able to let your children go and play outside because of poor air quality.
@guybrush (4658)
• Australia
29 Jun 08
We have excellent air quality, so it's very noticeable when I'm having a walk and a truck passes by with a smoky exhaust. We do have a nearby starch factory which occasionally smells awful when the wind's in the wrong direction, but the air is still clear.
1 person likes this
@sacmom (14192)
• United States
7 Jul 08
I've noticed smoky exhausts from vehicles even with the poor air quality here. 
@stephcjh (38473)
• United States
28 Jun 08
I think the quality of air is bad everywhere these days, but some places are worse than others. My husband used to work in a highly polluted area. He worked for a rubber making industry and their smoke stacks blew out all kinds of smoke and pollutants. We moved to the country and you can still see the pollution in the air but it is not as bad as it was in the city.
1 person likes this
@whittby (3072)
• United States
28 Jun 08
Yes I've been limiting my time outside this week. The ozone here in Nevada was high and that irritates allergies and my asthma. Plus we have the smoke from those darn forest fires coming over a little bit and that's not helping. I see this overcast stuff on the mountains and wonder if that's smog, smoke from the fires or what up there. And I do limit my time outside.
I don't remember ever having a problem years ago with air quality - maybe they didn't measure it and I didn't know any better.
@sacmom (14192)
• United States
29 Jun 08
I'm glad to hear you have been limiting your time outside. I hope you have an air cleaner.
@jillhill (37354)
• United States
29 Jun 08
I live in a rural area and our air is usually very good. On a bad day you can smell the ethonal plant that is about 10 miles away but most of the time you can't....and we don't have smog or things like that...It's nice to breath fresh clean air!
1 person likes this
@coffeebreak (17798)
• United States
29 Jun 08
I'm in California - so our air quality is that of fire during the summer through fall. ANd other times it is heavy pollen and dust of the Santa Ana winds. But my favorite is the really thick brown layer of smog that lines the entire area - used to be just at the foot of the mountains cause it couldn't make it over them, now it is just part of the horizon!
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
28 Jun 08
I live in a small city with very little industry or anything else. The largest city near me, with more cars and stuff, rates good and medium so I guess my little place would be good!
@sacmom (14192)
• United States
29 Jun 08
I live in a small town myself, but the areas surrounding it don't make it any better.
@teeaye98 (287)
• United States
28 Jun 08
I live in Atlanta and because there are so many people here, the air quality is pretty bad year round. It typically stays above 95. There have been times within the last year that it has gone below this number but not often. Last summer was pretty bad. I think it stayed above the 150 mark. I'm not used to the smog alerts. I am from Pittsburgh, PA and we very rarely get them there. I'm just thankful that my family doesn't have any allergies!
1 person likes this
@sacmom (14192)
• United States
2 Jul 08
When it gets that high it is bad for everyone to breath, not just those with allergies. 
@qhwater (392)
• China
4 Jul 08
in this city, the air quality is not good enough. too much chemical waste, too big population, too many cars, and so on.
the air quality has become the government concern. and there are many new policies about how to make good air quality. but anyway, it need everyone's effort, for ourselves, for our next and next generation, and for the planet.
1 person likes this
@kuailexiaohuo (42)
• China
6 Jul 08
I live in a bad place too.in summer the weather is very hot.besides,the pollution is bad.luckly,i don't often go out,i always keep my health well.
@carlaabt (3504)
• United States
1 Jul 08
I don't know if I could find the air quality for my area, it doesn't come up on most lists since I'm a good 4 hours from the nearest city with 100,000+, and even it doesn't usually show up.
Anyway, I would say that the air quality here is really good. I looked up where I'm originally from, and it says that the quality there is good, and I know that the air here looks and smells cleaner than there, so I think it's safe to say it's clean and healthy here.
1 person likes this
@golfproo (1839)
• Canada
30 Jun 08
Hi There,
I am afraid poor air quality is something we are all going to need to get used to. It is always very poor where I live. I do not think there is any way that is going to change for where I live or the planet in general. I just can't see the manufacturing world we live in changing drastically enough to change this.
cheers,
@nokia6233 (937)
• India
4 Jul 08
i live in chennai in india but i am pretty sure the pollution levels are quite high over here too...
but i lived in a residential area and comparatively its low comared to other industrial areas in my city..
1 person likes this
@nupats (3564)
• India
30 Jun 08
hi dear the colony where i stay is very good we have loads of trees and are just next to the sea and a big colony ...but the moment we come out on the main roads it is bad so we normally have our windows up and AC running..but thank God i spend most of my time in a nice and healthy air..
1 person likes this
@successlog (3172)
• China
1 Jul 08
every body want to live in a fresh and clean high quality air city.yes, that is right. we neeed that.But unfortunately, not all of us can share the good air.i know some place has beeen polluted very seriously.but here, in my city-beijing. it is so good.I am very prided of the high quality air.it is good for us to breathe.lol
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