New unhealthy air quality alert issued during Sacramento heat. Here’s the latest forecast

Sacramento will be under another poor air quality alert Friday, the second this year, as temperatures continue to rise above 100 degrees.

Spare the Air is asking residents to reduce air pollution by working from home, taking transit, driving an electric or hybrid vehicle, or using active transportation options. A heat advisory — with temperatures rising as high as 107 degrees — has also been extended into Saturday evening.

The AQI level for Thursday is 115, and will increase to 133 on Friday. A healthy AQI level would fall between zero and 50. The range of 100 to 150 AQI is considered “unhealthy for sensitive groups.”

According to Spare the Air, individuals who are more vulnerable to the health impacts of air pollution are children, pregnant women, the elderly, and individuals with heart or lung conditions, such as asthma. These groups are at risk of for health issues such as respiratory illness, heart and lung stress, and damaged respiratory cells.

Sac Metro Air Quality Management District, the agency in charge of Spare the Air, announced the first alert of the year for Tuesday.

Roughly 70% of air pollution created in the summer is caused when car emissions are cooked in the hot summer sun, because it traps pollutants in the ground level ozone, said Jamie Arno, a spokesperson for the Sac Metro Air District.

This is the main concern, besides wildfire smoke, in the summer. The most important action people can take to reduce the number of Spare the Air days in a year is stop driving, Arno said.

The district is working on a long term solution.

This story was originally published August 18, 2022 at 2:46 PM.