Asthma Flags
May 8th, 2007 at 8:24 am by PSoTD
Those with asthma or allergies can now look to the nearest flagpole to find out how aggravating the outdoors will be for the day.
Color-coded flags will fly at seven middle schools and several businesses around the county to alert residents on the state of the air, thanks to the Alamance Child Asthma Coalition. The Alamance-Caswell Medical Alliance funded the Air Quality Flag Program.
Flag colors are based on an air-quality index indicating the level of ozone, particles and other pollutants in the air. It was a green day in the Triad on Monday, which means air quality was good.
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The forecasts come from the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources, which typically reports on air indexes from May to October.
Children are especially vulnerable to the effects of air pollution. A report released by Environment North Carolina and other groups last year estimates that air pollution causes 50 infant deaths, 1,500 emergency room visits by children with asthma, 100,000 child asthma attacks, and 300,000 missed school days every year in North Carolina.
“Our goal is for students, parents, and school staff to be aware of the air quality and the impact it can have on everyone’s health,” Kimrey said.
In Sendai, Japan, they have an interesting setup. There’s a local large tower (looks kindof like a mini-Eiffel tower, or a nicely made broadcasting tower).
And in the evening they illuminate it with spotlights from below.
The *color* of the lights indicates the weather forecast over the next day: yellow=warm+sunny, green=rainy, blue=cold, etc.
I always wondered whether someone should do this in Philly (hey, any mayoral candidates want to use this, be my guest!) since with the way the downtown is set up, a tall building is visible over a large area.
And man, we could use all the hints about tomorrow’s weather that we can get…