Who is responsible for monitoring air quality in the United States? The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is a government department. It focuses on making sure the environment is healthy. It was established in 1970 by President Richard Nixon. The EPA developed a tool called the Air Quality Index (AQI). This map shows the air quality index on July 18. It is color-coded. Green is healthy. Yellow is moderate. Orange is unhealthy for sensitive groups. Red is unhealthy for everyone. Purple is very unhealthy. Maroon is hazardous, and should be considered an emergency.
What Do You Think? Use the Air Quality Index map found here https://gispub.epa.gov/airnow. Zoom in to your community. What is the air quality like today? What are things that you think could affect your air quality?
Photo Credit: AirNow
