Early summer heat wave spurs concern over air quality

PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — As parts of the U.S. continue to battle extremely high temperatures, it's not just sunburn and dehydration that could get you over the next several days.

With the rise in temperatures, there's usually a decline in the quality of the air you're breathing. It's quite possible the Air Quality Index will get into the unhealthy level for some areas.

Climate experts say ground-level ozone is made more efficiently in sunny, hot weather. The sun essentially "cooks" everyday emissions like automotive and industrial exhaust, along with the stagnant air that we get with high pressure, creating a heat wave, and pollution levels go up.

The index gives a guideline for when the air becomes unhealthy, which ranges from 0 to 500.

• 0-50 is good
• 51-100 is moderate
• 101-150 is unhealthy for sensitive people
• 151-200 unhealthy for everyone
• 201- higher is a health alert and could be an emergency

Numbers that could create a health warning are not what's expected with this heat wave, but the numbers could be high enough to create and elevate respiratory issues like coughing, chest pain, asthma and emphysema.

More than 55 million people will see triple-digit temperatures by the end of the week. According to the National Weather Service, the dome of heat and humidity across the Plains and Midwest will gradually shift off to the east by the middle of the week to include the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley and Mid-South.

Some of the tactics for dealing with the heat or the dirty air are the same, like keeping your eye on the Heat Index and the AQI.

"Keep in mind that not everybody has access to that information. So check on the folks that don’t know that it’s going to be as warm as it's going to be, making sure they are fine and perhaps bringing them with you to the mall for the day," said Oregon Health Authority spokesperson Erica Heartquist.

From the viewpoint at Pittock Mansion in Portland's West Hills, a light layer of smog was visible on the horizon, and that concerned Nicole Bianchi more than the heat.

"Too much pollution, definitely worse, because I get allergies too and any kind of respiratory, you know, in the air, it’s not good for a lot of people. I think the heat is something that is more manageable, you can cool yourself off, but as far as being outside in the nasty air, yeah," said Bianchi.

Margot Savoye, visiting from Paris, France, agrees that the bad air is worse than the excessive heat.

"Last week they had a heat wave, which is not normal at this time of the year, and they had a lot of pollution because when it gets really hot, we have a lot of pollution in Paris. You have to get away to the countryside to breathe" said Savoye.

Click here to check what the AQI is where you live.