In this lesson, you will learn how to understand official air quality advisories and turn them into simple, clear actions for different people. We will practice using modals for giving advice and the first conditional to talk about what to do in different situations.
Warm-up
Think about the last time you experienced smoke or haze from wildfires or pollution. What did you do? In pairs or small groups, discuss the question: "My smoke/haze plan right now is..."
Do you have a clear plan? Is it based on official advice? Share your ideas with your group.
Decode the Guidance
When air quality is poor, governments issue public health guidance. This advice helps people protect themselves, but it can sometimes be long or confusing. Our job is to find the most important information.
First, let's understand the key tool: The Air Quality Index, or AQI.
That Air Quality Index Number, What Does It Mean for You?
Watch this video to learn more about the AQI and what the different levels mean for your health.
Video Transcript
With wildfire smoke and fine particulate matter filling our air on an increasingly regular basis, you may be wondering at what air quality index level you should be staying indoors, keeping children from playing outside, closing your windows, or looking into an air purifier. Well, the answer to all of these questions is that since everybody's different and unique, we can't really say one size fits all or one number fits all. [ 00:00:28 ]
Generally, a one is clean and no need to have concerns. Over 10 means everyone should take precautions. However, every number in between is not cut and dry. Every little bit of an increase in air pollution leads to an increased risk. [ 00:00:42 ]
As it's going up, how are we feeling? If you do feel throat irritation, coughing, or your eyes are running, that's the beauty of the inflammatory response. It's a quick response of our body to fix damage or to attack invading microbes. [ 00:01:00 ]
In this case, with wildfire smoke, a normal healthy adult may just need to be more aware and monitor those symptoms when the air quality levels are moderate, from 5 to 6. For a vulnerable person, as defined by the air quality health index, at level five, we would basically say you should be considering stopping what you do outside, in particular anything strenuous, and moving it indoors or postponing it until the level is below four. [ 00:01:30 ]
If it's 10 plus, we say you should be inside and should not be outside. That's the vulnerable population. [ 00:01:36 ]
But what is the point when the average adult should actually stay indoors? Levels between 8 to 9 would make sense to make shifts in how much you are exposed. Poor air quality could be a trigger or exacerbate many health conditions. [ 00:01:50 ]
The same goes for children and healthy seniors. Think more of a 7 to 8 on the index as a good place to start making some alternate indoor plans. [ 00:01:59 ]
This scale helps us quickly understand the level of pollution in the air. The higher the number, the greater the health risk.
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