多年來,地面臭氧預測值(Ground-level ozone forecasts)一直是美國主要城市空氣品質的一個關鍵指標,現在更在全美48個州以地圖系統提供每小時預測值的網路資訊。地面臭氧是都市地區天際上懸浮的褐色雲霧「煙霾」的主要成分之一。
美國國家海洋及大氣總署(NOAA)國家氣象局主任海斯(Jack Hayes)表示:「惡劣的空氣品質是一個無聲的殺手,是美國大陸每年成千上萬人提前死亡的原因之一。」
他指出:「氣候與空氣品質緊密關連,在我們工作及休閒的地方若溫度及風量不足,會產生有害的臭氧氣體並使之滯留。我們的預測系統將能使各城市及各州的空氣品質管理人員預先察覺問題,發佈隔日惡劣空氣品質的警報。」
美國國家氣象局與美國環境保護署(EPA)合作,已經將此臭氧預測系統推展至西部11個州及其他6個州,確保美國國內最繁榮的城市每日都能夠獲取臭氧預測值。
從午夜開始的全天每小時臭氧值資料已經可以從網站上查到,為全美超過2億9000萬人提供惡劣空氣品質起始時間、嚴重程度、持續時間的資訊。
Ground-level ozone forecasts, for years a key predictor of air quality in major U.S. cities, are now posted and mapped online on an hourly basis throughout the lower 48 United States. Ground-level ozone is a main ingredient of urban smog, that brown cloud hanging over the skylines of urban areas.
"Poor air quality is a silent killer, responsible for tens of thousands of premature deaths each year in the continental United States," said Jack Hayes, Ph.D., director of the National Weather Service, an agency of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA.
"Weather and air quality are strongly linked. Temperature and lack of wind can create and trap harmful ozone where we work and play," said Hayes. "Our ozone forecasts will enable city and state air quality managers to look ahead, see trouble brewing, and issue next-day alerts for poor air quality."
The National Weather Service, in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, has extended its ozone forecast to 11 western states and expanded the service in six other states, ensuring that the most populous cities throughout the country will have access to the ozone forecasts on a daily basis.
Hour-by-hour ozone forecasts, through midnight of the following day, are available online, providing information for the onset, severity and duration of poor air quality for more than 290 million people from coast to coast.
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