{"id":865,"date":"2014-04-30T12:44:26","date_gmt":"2014-04-30T16:44:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/?p=865"},"modified":"2014-05-15T12:52:30","modified_gmt":"2014-05-15T16:52:30","slug":"emde-be-air-aware","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mde\/2014\/04\/30\/emde-be-air-aware\/","title":{"rendered":"eMDE – Be air aware"},"content":{"rendered":"

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THE LATEST FROM THE MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT<\/h2>\n

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FEATURED ARTICLE<\/h2>\n

AIR QUALITY AWARENESS WEEK 2014<\/h3>\n

Last year, Maryland’s air was the cleanest in the three decades that ground level ozone has been measured. Hot summer sunshine generally increases the amount of ground-level ozone in our air, and that causes health issues for many Marylanders with asthma or other respiratory problems. Last summer had a nearly average number of hot days – but the number of days when the ozone standard was exceeded was the lowest yet measured and the days that exceeded the standard were “Code Orange” days. There were no “Code Red” days.<\/p>\n

Thanks to decades of sustained efforts and the continued strong support of Maryland’s air quality programs by the O’Malley-Brown administration, overall, results of 2013 air quality monitoring data show continued improvements in our state’s air quality, but there is more to be done. Maryland is taking steps to address the pollution from power plants in neighboring states that are a major source of Maryland’s ozone problem.<\/p>\n

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This week is Air Quality Awareness Week. MDE encourages everyone to follow our air quality forecasts and take the steps listed below to help keep Maryland’s air clean.<\/p>\n

“Breathing clean air is something most of us take for granted. But if you have respiratory concerns such as asthma, poor air quality is something that can’t be ignored,” said MDE Secretary Robert M. Summers. “We all make choices every day that can help reduce air pollution.”<\/p>\n

What you can do:<\/p>\n