What Is It?
An Air Awareness Program is a public outreach and education effort with a goal reducing air pollution through voluntary actions by individuals and organizations. The program draws on its coalition of participants to educate individuals about the sources of air pollution; health effects of air pollution and how people can protect against these effects; and simple actions they can take to reduce air pollution. Although the program currently concentrates on ozone pollution, plans are being developed to include fine particulate matter (PM2.5) materials and information. The South Carolina program, called the Spare the Air Campaign, is administered by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, Bureau of Air Quality. In North Carolina, the Division of Air Quality of the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources is charged with the program.
An Air Awareness Program is a public outreach and education effort with a goal reducing air pollution through voluntary actions by individuals and organizations. The program draws on its coalition of participants to educate individuals about the sources of air pollution; health effects of air pollution and how people can protect against these effects; and simple actions they can take to reduce air pollution. Although the program currently concentrates on ozone pollution, plans are being developed to include fine particulate matter (PM2.5) materials and information. The South Carolina program, called the Spare the Air Campaign, is administered by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, Bureau of Air Quality. In North Carolina, the Division of Air Quality of the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources is charged with the program. Shared Impact and Benefits
- Ground-level ozone is one of the most pervasive outdoor air pollutants in the United States. Exposure to elevated ozone levels can cause severe coughing, shortness of breath, pain when breathing, lung and eye irritation, and greater susceptibility to respiratory illnesses such as bronchitis and pneumonia. Numerous studies have shown that higher ozone levels exacerbate asthma attacks leading to increased hospital admissions and emergency room visits for asthma. An air awareness program can help to minimize the effects of ozone and PM2.5 pollutants through its public educational components regarding activity limitation.
- The forecasts issued by the air awareness programs suggest actions individuals can take to reduce the problem, potentially resulting in an array of activities which reduce traffic congestion.
- Clean air is a quality of life issue impacting a community's ability to recruit or keep solid, well-paying businesses and industries.
- Like a clean air policy, participation in an air awareness program is one of the foundations on which other activities to promote cleaner, healthier air can be based.
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