Air Quality News and Events

Instant air quality information

Not only can you find the SkyCast on the MARC Web site and get updates via many news outlets, now you can get instant updates with our new SkyCast RSS.

Setting it up is easy: Using an RSS Reader such as Google Reader or NewsGator, copy and paste our code into the prompt when setting up a new RSS feed. You can access SkyCast forecasts in your Outlook mail folder, on a personal search page, on your desktop and more.

New ozone standards mean more Ozone Alerts

SkyCast graphic

Greater Kansas City will experience more Ozone Alert days this summer season as a result of changes to the Environmental Protection Agency’s ground-level ozone standard.

On March 12, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it will tighten its limits on ground-level ozone. EPA is making the change because studies show that the old standard does not adequately protect public health.

This summer, air quality agencies across the country will issue health advisories whenever ground-level ozone concentrations are expected to exceed the new national standard of 75 parts per billion (ppb). This means that areas such as Kansas City will see an increase in the number of Ozone Alerts issued over the course of summer. Where the region typically experiences around 10 Ozone Alert days per summer, this year the number of Ozone Alerts may be closer to 25.

For more information on the new standards, contact airQ@marc.org.

Survey finds residents are concerned about air quality

Results from a random survey of over 1,000 residents show that 80 percent are concerned about Kansas City's air quality. Among the other findings:

  1. Over half of those surveyed felt that air quality was getting "much" or "somewhat" worse
  2. 84 percent had heard information about Ozone Alert days
  3. 60 percent know that they can do something to reduce local air pollution

Complete results are available online in PDF format.