Air Quality Action Days occur when ground level ozone or particle pollution is predicted to exceed health standards. The Washington, D.C. metro area is ranked 11th worst in the U.S. for short-term particle exposure and 20th for year round exposure to particulate matter.

Vehicles, smokestacks, household products, as well as lawn, garden, farm, and construction equipment are all ground level ozone producers. Particulate matter does not take long to react with living tissue and other compounds. In fact, particle pollution is responsible for tens of thousands of premature deaths in the U.S. each year.

Vehicles also emit carbon dioxide, the primary global warming gas. Carbon dioxide emissions in Virginia rose about 34 percent from 1990 to 2004, nearly twice the national average. Gas emissions from burning fossil fuels remain in the atmosphere for decades or even centuries. Global warming heats the surface of the earth and leads to increased health risks and increasingly severe weather.

You too can be part of the solution and reduce ozone pollution!

Just leave your car at home and take the bus to work, shop, and play. And it’s FREE on forecast Code Red air quality days in Northern Virginia!

Click here to find out how to RIDE FREE.