The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has declared a Code Orange Air Quality Action Day for ozone for Wednesday in the Lehigh Valley (Berks, Lehigh, and Northampton counties).

Mostly sunny skies through a thin layer of smoke from Canadian wildfires along with high temperatures in the upper 80s in the aforementioned areas Wednesday will lead to robust ozone development during the late morning and afternoon hours. Maximum 8-hour ozone concentrations will reach the code ORANGE range. Residents are encouraged to check www.airnow.gov for current conditions in their area.

On a Code Orange Air Quality Action Day, young children, the elderly, and those with respiratory problems, such as asthma, emphysema, and bronchitis, are especially vulnerable to the effects of air pollution and should limit outdoor activities.

Residents and businesses within the Air Quality Action Day area are strongly encouraged to voluntarily help reduce ozone air pollution by:

• Driving less by carpooling or using public transportation;

• Combining errands to reduce vehicle trips;

• Limiting engine idling;

• Refueling cars and trucks after dusk; and

• Conserving electricity by setting air conditioning to a higher temperature and turning off lights that are not in use.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Air Quality Index (AQI) provides standardized color codes for forecasting and reporting daily air quality. Green signifies good air quality; Yellow means moderate air quality; Orange represents unhealthy pollution levels for sensitive groups of people; and Red warns of unhealthy pollution levels for all.

For more information, visit DEP at www.ahs.dep.pa.gov/AQPartnersWeb, EPA’s AirNow at www.airnow.gov.