What Dallas-Fort Worth's ozone action days mean
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It's not just heat making it blurry outside. Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
Notice a haze over the skyline recently? It's not blurry vision. It's smog.
Why it matters: D-FW does not meet federal air quality standards.
- The region typically has the most ozone action days — when the concentration of ground-level ozone reaches levels of health concern — of any area in Texas. Yes, even more than Houston.
- Failure to meet federal air standards can result in penalties, including withholding of federal highway funds.
Threat level: The air may be partly to blame if you've been feeling a little crummy lately.
- A lot of smog can irritate your throat and respiratory system, causing wheezing, shortness of breath and a burning sensation in your throat, per AirNow.gov, a collaboration between federal agencies that tracks the air quality index.
The latest: Our poor air quality has already triggered more than eight alerts this summer, including on Friday and Saturday.
- The region has already seen eight days this year with ozone levels exceeding safe standards for more than eight hours, per the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCG).
By the numbers: The Dallas area had 58 ozone action days last year and 61 in 2022, per data from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
- Before 2022, the area typically saw fewer than 30 such days a year.
- Houston, by comparison, had 51 in 2023 and 55 in 2022. In prior years, Houston typically experienced more ozone action days than D-FW.
How it works: Ozone action days are when pollution reaches levels that are unhealthy for sensitive groups or reaches level orange of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's air quality index.
- The air quality index is based on fine-particle pollution, ozone levels and other gases.
- Officials recommend driving less on these days to reduce pollution and to limit use of gas-powered machinery.
Zoom in: NCTCG, a group of more than 200 local governmental entities, is working on improving air quality through a $4.6 billion federal grant program.
The bottom line: Pollution is worsening across the country, and Texas air quality is expected to get worse amid rising temperatures, shifts in weather patterns and more pollution.
- The U.S. population exposed to "dangerous" days on the air quality index is likely to grow to 11.2 million between now and 2054, an increase of about 13%.