Windsor breaks records outside Olympic Trials
By Hannah Larking
News Editor
July 9, 2008
 Windsor had one smog day in the month of June, contributing to a total of four for 2008 so far, which may not sound like a cause for concern, but this year’s weather has been anything but predictable.
On Sunday, June 8 and Monday, June 9, Windsor broke a heat wave record when the city hit highs of 33 and 34 degree Celsius - temperatures that, according to Environment Canada, haven’t been reached since 1968.
In addition to this, so far this summer Windsor has beat its own personal best for rainfall, with an estimated 172 millimetres last month alone.
Last year at this time Windsor had experienced 19 smog alert days already. Luckily for us, we have only had one smog day in June – but with heat and moisture extremes like this, it’s good to stay informed on what smog is, and what you need to do when a smog alert is issued.
According to Dr. Iris Xu, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Windsor, smog usually refers to two pollutants. “One is PM25, which refers to a particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometres or smaller. Because of their small size, they are capable of reaching deep parts of human lungs, and these particles are often coated with chemicals,” Xu explained.
The other is ozone. A report written about smog on the Environment Canada website describes it as a result of stagnant air on hot and sunny days trapping pollutants. When combined with sunlight, this results in unacceptable levels of ground level ozone. These pollutants build up over time, so anything people can do to reduce individual contributions to smog can be beneficial to air quality, not only on high pollution days, but every day.
The government has monitors set up so that concerned citizens can know in advance if there appears to be a smog day coming. “If someone in Chicago or Detroit has high readings, then a few hours later or the next day, we might too,” said Xu.
People most likely to be affected by smog are the young, the elderly, and anyone with respiratory problems, Xu said. These people will cope best indoors avoiding strenuous activity. “When a smog alert is issued, it causes a chain of events to occur that spread the word around of what to avoid – such as exercising at certain hours,” Xu explained.
Local authorities might also suggest ways of reducing the smog condition, such as by taking local transit instead of driving personal vehicles to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In fact, on smog alert days in the summer of 2003, there were free transit days provided by Transit Windsor and funded by Environment Canada and the City of Windsor. Transit Windsor continues to actively pursue funding in hopes of providing free transit days in the future.
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