How To Check Your Air Quality In Bensalem Township

BENSALEM TOWNSHIP, PA —An Air Quality website will let Bensalem Township residents know how healthy the air is that they are breathing from the Canadian wildfires.

People with heart or lung diseases, older adults, and teens should reduce outdoor activities or keep outdoor activities short. Everyone else should also reduce outdoor exposure and choose less strenuous activities.

The smoke from the wildfires over eastern Canada continues to drive poorer air quality conditions in Pennsylvania.

The worse air quality is expected early Thursday with gradually improving conditions on Friday, according to state officials.

Good to moderate air quality is expected over the weekend into early next week.

AirNow.gov, which reports air quality using the official U.S. Air Quality Index (AQI), has an updated map of air quality in the United States.

Air quality alerts are triggered by a number of factors, including the detection of fine-particle pollution — known as "PM 2.5" — which can irritate the lungs.

The AQI scale is as follows:

• Good/green: 0-50
• Moderate/yellow: 51-100
• Unhealthy for sensitive groups/orange: 101-150
• Unhealthy/red: 151-200
• Very unhealthy/purple: 201-300
• Hazardous/maroon: 301-500

Why is the Air Quality Bad?

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources said widespread smoke continues to burn across eastern Canada.

The perfect combination of an area of low pressure across Nova Scotia and an area of high pressure stationed over the Hudson Bay region of Canada continue to keep northerly wind flow across much of Pennsylvania. This is reminiscent of what unfolded in early July 2002 when forest fires in a similar region of Canada impacted our area.

Impact of Climate Change

The frequency, extent, and severity of wildfires mark important indicators of climate change, environmental officials say. The peak of the nation’s wildfire season is also occurring earlier — peaking in August from 1984-2001 and then in July from 2002-20, according to research from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Tips for Reducing Air Pollution:

• Reduce or eliminate fireplace and wood stove use
• Avoid the use of gas-powered lawn and garden equipment.

Anyone experiencing symptoms like trouble breathing or dizziness should seek medical attention. If you know a family member or neighbor who has one of the above conditions, remember to check in on them.

Visit www.airnow.gov to find the latest air quality levels and recommendations for your location.