What on earth is a “code red” day?

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Hurricane Sandy's getting ready to hit, but a code red day isn't a day that starts with "red sky in the morning, sailors take warning."  And it’s not a day that starts with a beautiful red sunrise for a balloon launch!

As we’ve discussed in previous posts about asthma, air pollution has significant impacts on our health, as well as on our environment (think climate change).  The U.S. EPA, in cooperation with the Sacramento Metropolitan, El Dorado, Feather River, Placer, and Yolo-Solano Air Districts, has developed a great tool for learning about the sources of air pollution in your community and that pollution’s impacts.  Smog City 2 lets players set various levels of pollutants and population, as well as weather conditions, in order to see the impacts of various inputs.  You can take a close look at particulate pollution and ozone impacts – now you’ll really understand the meaning behind those “code red” days! 

After you’ve learned about the impacts of air pollution, check out this energy profiler from U.S. EPA to determine how your local utility provides most of your power.