Do you worry about levels of CO2 in your or nearest city?

1. 56

   Dame Scribeposted 10 years ago

   Do you worry about levels of CO2 in your or nearest city?
   
   Air pollution is a concern for health reasons. Should we request Air pollution reports on the weather news maybe?

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2. 78

   junksellerposted 10 years ago

   CO2 is a pollutant because it contributes to global warming, however, it isn't really a pollutant in terms of directly affecting human health. CO2 concentrations outside are generally lower than average inside concentrations. Outside concentrations are around 350-400 parts per million (ppm) while indoor concentrations can go up to around 1,000 ppm, depending on the number of occupants and the rate of ventilation.
   
   But even 1,000 ppm isn't dangerous. Up around 10,000ppm you might start to feel drowsy and then in the 50,000-100,000 ppm range is when you will start having headaches, impairment, and eventually unconsciousness.
   
   The pollutants that generally have a direct impact on people are ozone and particulates. Ozone is highly toxic and that is what they are concerned about on ozone action days; it means that conditions are favorable for the formation of ground level ozone.
   
   Particulate matter is just tiny pieces of stuff floating around in the air. A lot of it is natural, but some of it is from human activity (e.g. burning fossil fuels). You will usually see these denoted as PM2.5 or PM10 (with the number as a subscript). The numbers refer to the size of the particulates in micrometers. The danger of particulates is their ability to penetrate into the lungs.
   
   I have no idea how well local TV stations do with this information, but it seems like during the summer they usually at least mention ozone action days. Online weather sites usually have some information as well. Weather Underground http://www.wunderground.com/ has a PM2.5 listing. National Weather Service has an air quality map http://airquality.weather.gov/ but I think it is just for ozone. Another site AIRNow http://www.airnow.gov/ also has an air quality map that combines PM2.5 and ozone (has them separately as well). It doesn't have a lot of detail, but it is something.

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3. 60

   thumbi7posted 10 years ago

   I don't the details about CO2 pollution. But I always hear news about air pollution and global warming.
   Remember reading somewhere that fruit bearing plants can reduce the carbon load. Hence in an effort to plant some chillies and tomatoes and few other vegetables in my apartment.
   Let me do whatever I can.....

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