The Natural History of Foster City, California

by James K. Sayre

a draft manuscript

12 May 2005

Air Quality

Foster City is located in the urban region whose air quality is monitored by the Bay Area Air Quality Managment Board. Air quality is influenced by several factors including quantity of industrial and automotive pollutants emitted, configuration of air masses in surrounding region, intensity of prevailing winds. Foster City is fortunate to be located next to the Bay, where strong afternoon northwesterly and western winds tend to disperse air pollutants into other parts of the bay area and the rest of northern

California. All of the local daily newspapers report a forecast and/or report of yesterday's .i.Pollutant Standard Index; (PSI) for different parts of the Bay Area. The PSI is normalized highest value of one of three different air pollutants: Ozone (hourly average), Carbon Monoxide (8-hr average) and Nitrogen Dioxide (24-hr average). The value of 100 is the Federal Standard for Air Quality. Any number above 100 is considered unhealthful. .i.Ozone; is an invisible gas and it impairs breathing. .i.Nitrogen Dioxide; is a brown-colored gas; it also impairs breathing. .i.Carbon Monoxide; is an invisible gas which lowers the oxygen level in blood. The Los Angeles Times carries a comprehensive daily record of air quality including forecasts for the three aforementioned air pollutants along with PM10, the abbreviation for Particulate Matter below 10 microns in.

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