Thanks for recently reminding us of the dangers of hot weather to our health. While people talk about the humidity making them uncomfortable, two other factors deserve our attention: ozone and particle pollution.

Ozone and smoke in the air make it difficult to breathe. The smoke particles in Maine’s air usually come from Western wildfires. Ozone comes from many things, including traffic to the south and coal-fired plants west of us. Under some weather conditions these pollutants can’t move out over the ocean and so become stuck in Maine, particularly on our coast.

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection maintains an excellent website on our air quality, rating it from Good to Very Unhealthy for various regions. Even at Moderate levels, “Sensitive people should consider reducing long or heavy exertion.” At Very Unhealthy levels, “the elderly, teenagers and children should avoid any outdoor activity.”

Each morning, I go to https://www.maine.gov/dep/air/ozone/ so I can know how careful to be.

David Haines
Auburn