Steadier, Heavier Rain Arrives Today

A withering drought continues for much of the western USA, long-track tornadoes may grind across Louisiana and Mississippi later today and massive wildfires are burning from Texas to the Florida Panhandle. So remind me not to whine about puddles, potholes, muddy shoes and a little Wednesday slush.

March can whip up legendary storms. Huge north-south temperature gradients can spin up high winds and intense areas of low pressure capable of blizzard conditions, flash flooding and damaging thunderstorms.

Mercifully, today’s storm will drop a cold rain on Minnesota. Rainfall amounts may exceed half an inch, with enough cold air wrapping into the storm’s circulation for a changeover to slushy snow tonight into Wednesday morning. I can’t get excited about snowfall amounts (maybe a coating to an inch in the metro area but 3-6″ from Brainerd and Duluth north to the Arrowhead).

I see a run of 40s and a few 50s into late March; a few degrees above average.

Nothing polar – no subzero relapses or snowy punches.

Mostly Rain. Temperatures cool through the 40s today with mostly rain through the evening hours. Wet snow mixes in overnight with a slushy coating possible by Wednesday morning.

Severe Threat Ramps Up. Here is an excerpt of a Praedictix briefing issued yesterday:

Moderate Severe Threat Tuesday. As we head into Tuesday and Tuesday Night, the severe storm threat will ramp up with an outbreak of severe storm expected. Due to it, a Moderate Risk of severe weather (threat level 4 of 5) is in place across portions of Louisiana and Mississippi, including Baton Rouge (LA), Jackson and Hattiesburg (MS). The potential exists for significant and damaging tornadoes, along with large hail and damaging winds.

Timing Tuesday Storms. Storms from Monday will continue to move eastward on Tuesday, still producing all types of severe weather hazards. Ahead of those storms, we could see additional storms pop across the region, providing an additional severe weather threat – especially a tornado threat, some of which could be significant. This means some areas could see multiple rounds of severe weather on Tuesday across the Deep South.

Greatest Tuesday Threat: Tornadoes. The greatest threat from this expected outbreak of severe storms on Tuesday across the Deep South will be tornadoes – some of which could cause significant damage. The threat of tornadoes will occur in both the line of storms moving across the region as well as individual storms that form in front of that band of storms.

Hail And Wind Also Possible. While tornadoes appear to be the highest threat from storms on Tuesday across the lower Mississippi Valley and Deep South, damaging winds and large hail will also be possible.

Flooding Risk The Next Couple Of Days. This system will also produce the potential of flooding rains across the southern United States over the next couple of days. Both days have a Moderate risk of excessive rainfall that could lead to flooding. Today and tonight the highest threat is across portions of eastern Texas, western and northwestern Louisiana, and southern Arkansas. Model guidance shows the potential of 3-6″ of rain (with locally higher amounts) through early Tuesday morning across this region. This heavy rain could lead to an area of more numerous flash flooding events – some of which the Weather Prediction Center says, “could be locally significant.” The threat moves east over Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama as we head into Tuesday and Tuesday Night, with the potential of 2-4″ with locally up to 7″ in a 24-hour period. Recent heavy rain has left the soil quite saturated and streamflow conditions elevated. Therefore, this additional heavy rain could lead to additional flooding concerns.

Flood Watches And Rainfall Amounts. From tonight into Tuesday Flood Watches are in place across portions of the lower Mississippi Valley, including Houston (TX), Arkadelphia and Pine Bluff (AR), Monroe and Baton Rouge (LA), and Jackson, Hattiesburg, Meridian, and Columbus (MS). Again, at least 2-5″ of rain can be expected from eastern Texas into the Deep South over the next couple of days.

Snow And Ice On The Cold Side. On the northern side of this system, there will be enough cold air in place at times to bring the threat of snow and ice from the Rockies to the central/northern Plains. Some of the heaviest snow will fall in the Rockies and around the northern Great Lakes, with icing as well in the northern Great Lakes. Winter Weather Advisories and Winter Storm Warnings are in place, including:

• Amarillo, TX: Winter Weather Advisory from 7 PM tonight to 10 AM Tuesday for 1-4″ of snow and wind gusts to 50 mph.
• Dodge City, KS: Winter Weather Advisory from 7 PM tonight to 10 AM Tuesday for 1-4″ of snow and wind gusts to 50 mph.
• Goodland, KS: Winter Weather Advisory through 6 PM tonight for up to 4″ of snow and wind gusts to 50 mph.
• Duluth, MN: Winter Weather Advisory from 10 PM tonight to 7 AM Wednesday for 2-4″ of snow, up to 0.1″ of ice, and wind gusts to 35 mph.
• Grand Marais, MN: Winter Storm Warning from 1 AM Tuesday to 1 PM Wednesday for 7-11″ of snow (isolated 15″) and wind gusts to 35 mph.

Snow And Ice Amounts. Snow will be possible from the Rockies to the Great Lakes. In some areas of the North Shore of Minnesota, 7-11″ of snow – with isolated 15″ amounts – will be possible. Some areas of northern Minnesota could also see up to 0.25″ of ice. Snow and ice could lead to travel concerns.

Severe Risk Extends Into Wednesday. The system that is causing our severe threat the next few days will continue to move east as we head into Wednesday with a cold front trailing into the Southeast United States. This will continue to spark the threat of severe weather for the middle of the week, with a Slight Risk (threat level 2 of 5) in place from southern Virginia to the central Gulf Coast. Damaging winds, hail, and tornadoes will continue to be possible.

D.J. Kayser, Meteorologist, Praedictix

States Impacted: OK, TX, AR, LA, MS, AL, FL, GA, SC, NC, VA, KY, CO, NM, KS, NE, IA, MN, WI, MI

It’s 70 Degrees Warmer Than Normal in Eastern Antarctica. Scientists are Flabbergasted. That’s probably not a good omen – here’s an excerpt from MSN.com: “The coldest location on the planet has experienced an episode of warm weather this week unlike any ever observed, with temperatures over the eastern Antarctic ice sheet soaring 50 to 90 degrees above normal. The warmth has smashed records and shocked scientists. “This event is completely unprecedented and upended our expectations about the Antarctic climate system,” said Jonathan Wille, a researcher studying polar meteorology at Université Grenoble Alpes in France, in an email. “Antarctic climatology has been rewritten,” tweeted Stefano Di Battista, a researcher who has published studies on Antarctic temperatures. He added that such temperature anomalies would have been considered “impossible” and “unthinkable” before they actually occurred…”

Science Says Keeping Shoes Outside May Improve Your Home’s Indoor Air Quality, According to Two Scientists. A post at Martha Stewart caught my eye; here’s a clip: “…According to their research, some of the microorganisms present on shoes and floors are drug-resistant pathogens that are difficult to treat. Additionally, when you wear your shoes inside you may also be tracking cancer-causing toxins from asphalt road residue and lawn chemicals into your home. A primary focus of their work involves assessing the levels of potentially toxic metals inside homes across 35 different countries. The contaminants are odorless and colorless, meaning there’s no way to determine if they’ve been brought into your home by your shoes…”

65 F. Twin Cities high on Monday.

44 F. Average MSP high on March 21.

63 F. MSP high on March 21, 2021.

March 22, 1991: A historic ice storm begins during the afternoon and ends as heavy, wet snow on the 23rd. This event coated the city of Duluth with as much as 6 inches of ice. The 850-foot WIDO TV tower was toppled. 4 million pine trees were damaged or destroyed with the heaviest damage at G.C. Andrews State Forest near Moose Lake in Pine County.

March 22, 1952: A snowstorm dumps 13.2 inches on the Twin Cities.

TUESDAY: Heavier, steadier rain. Winds: NE 8-13. High: 44

WEDNESDAY: Early coating of slush? Cold wind. Winds: N 10-20. Wake-up: 34. High: near 40

THURSDAY: Sunny and springier. Winds: NW 8-13. Wake-up: 31. High: 49

FRIDAY: Gusty winds, few showers. Winds: NW 15-35. Wake-up: 35. High: 42

SATURDAY: Sunny and cool. Winds: NW 10-15. Wake-up: 27. High: 41

SUNDAY: Mix of clouds and sunshine. Winds: SE 10-15. Wake-up: 28. High: 47

MONDAY: Plenty of sunshine, milder. Winds: SE 10-20. Wake-up: 32. High: 53

Climate Stories…

Climate Change is Making Armed Conflict Worse. Here’s How. A post at The New York Times connects the dots: “…Climate change can intensify the risks. A hotter planet often makes dry places drier and hotter, supercharging competition over an already-scarce resource. How much of a role climate change plays in each conflict is hard to know, and, most certainly, poor management and rising demand for water play a role equally if not more important. But, said Peter Gleick, president emeritus of the Pacific Institute, who has studied water conflicts for decades, “climate change is unambiguously worsening the very conditions that contribute to water conflicts: drought, scarcity and inequities.” Water conflicts have gone up sharply in the last 20 years, the study found…”

Biden’s Chance to Tackle Climate Change is Fading Amid Global Energy Upheaval. The Washington Post has analysis: “As the war in Ukraine has raised oil prices and launched Western leaders on a global hunt for new sources of energy, environmentalists have tried to leverage the chaos in energy markets to move the United States off fossil fuels. But there’s a problem: Despite major advancements in wind and solar power — and renewed investor enthusiasm — Democrats, who narrowly control Congress, have yet to devise a legislative strategy that could accelerate this shift. And without major climate legislation soon, President Biden is likely to lose his opportunity to transform the nation’s energy mix during his first term. Experts say that for the United States to supercharge renewable power, lawmakers have to lower the upfront costs of building wind turbines, solar arrays and energy battery storage through federal tax breaks and other incentives…”

Climate Change: Wildfire Smoke Linked to Arctic Melting. BBC News explains: “The dense plumes of wildfire smoke seen in recent years are contributing to the warming of the Arctic, say scientists. Their study says that particles of “brown carbon” in the smoke are drifting north and attracting heat to the polar region. The authors believe the growing number of wildfires helps explain why the Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the planet.They’re concerned that this effect will likely increase. Over the past decade, smoke from raging wildfires in Australia, Portugal, Siberia and the US have changed the color of the skies. The smoke has impacted human health, and the amount of carbon released by the burning has helped push emissions to record levels. But now scientists say that all this burning has contributed to another serious issue – the loss of sea ice in the Arctic…”

Kuwait, Among World’s Hottest Places, Lags on Climate Action. AP News reports: “It was so hot in Kuwait last summer that birds dropped dead from the sky. Sea horses boiled to death in the bay. Dead clams coated the rocks, their shells popped open like they’d been steamed. Kuwait reached a scorching temperature of 53.2 degrees Celsius (127.7 degrees Fahrenheit), making it among the hottest places on earth. The extremes of climate change present existential perils all over the world. But the record heat waves that roast Kuwait each season have grown so severe that people increasingly find it unbearable. By the end of the century, scientists say being outside in Kuwait City could be life-threatening — not only to birds. A recent study also linked 67% of heat-related deaths in the capital to climate change…”

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Originally Appeared Here

Air Quality News reporter Chloe Coules investigates the growing problem of damp and mould in social housing and the impact it has on the most vulnerable tenants.

‘I have been crying non-stop every day, crying like a helpless child. I have been screaming and shouting in my flat, and normally I am a very quiet person. I am boiling over with anger, I’m absolutely furious and filled with rage.’

Afia moved into her social rent flat in 1991, when she was just 23. In December 2021, her housing provider One Housing Group sent contractors to measure for new lino in her bathroom, following flooding from under her bath, and discovered black mould on the floorboards.

Afia commissioned an independent inspection, which found that the mould was most likely Stachybotrys Chartarum, known as toxic black mould.

‘I was trapped in my flat with dangerous black mould. No one could visit me because of the stench: I stank, my clothes stank. I took time off work because I was so sick,’ she says.

For some time, Afia has been experiencing a range of unexplained health issues, including breathing problems, itchy skin and allergic reactions, severe headaches, nausea, fatigue, upset stomach, brain fog and light headedness. The combination of discovering the toxic mould in her flat and contracting Covid-19 has also had a severe impact on her wellbeing.

After over 30 years in her home, Afia packed an emergency suitcase and left her flat on 29 January, and she has not been back since.

‘I had to pay for my own hotel, and I am using up my savings, while also paying rent on my flat,’ she told Air Quality News.

‘Social housing is for tenants; tenants are supposed to come first, not last. Officers are supposed to serve tenants, not treat them like a nuisance.’

In response to her story, the Chief Operating Officer of One Housing, Chyrel Brown, told Air Quality News that they ‘strive to provide the highest standards of service and understand how important a well-maintained home is for [their] customers’. She added that they thoroughly investigate when they receive a complaint, and in this case following initial repair work they offered the tenant a dehumidifier and cleaners attended to remove patches of mould, and are keen to return to the property to ensure any issues are fully resolved.

However, Afia is just one of many social housing tenants whose lives have been turned upside down by persistent damp and mould problems.

Mould and damp are one of the main causes of respiratory illnesses, with reports that over 10 million families are living in damp houses in the UK.

A campaign group supporting social housing tenants, Social Housing Action Campaign (SHAC), told Air Quality News: ‘Damp and mould are the single biggest disrepair problems that our members complain of. Almost every day, tenants and residents of social housing landlords contact us about the squalid conditions they are having to live in. Thousands of people struggle in unfit homes.

‘There is no economic excuse for these conditions. Housing association L&Q in particular seems to have difficulty in providing decent, habitable homes even though they made an operating surplus of £279m in 2020. One Housing Group features regularly despite an operating surplus of £6m. Clarion has an appalling record on addressing disrepairs but boasted to investors last year of a £258m operating surplus. It is not just the large associations with sprawling estates though. Housing for Women, a smaller association housing vulnerable women, seems equally unwilling to make sure that their homes are fit for habitation.

‘Tenants and residents contact SHAC because the initial problems are compounded by completely ineffective systems for alerting the landlord and getting something done. Neighbourhood managers have largely been abandoned. Tenants are now directed to telephone or online helpline systems, just to get stuck in an endless loop of reporting their problem but nothing happening, no matter how many times they chase it up.

‘The disgraceful reality is that the RSPCA would act immediately if we reported such conditions for an animal, but neither landlords nor government provide an equivalent, immediate system of redress when people are living with these terrible hazards. The social housing model is an entirely broken system that needs radical reform, considerably strengthened by tough regulation, and most of all, meaningful power for tenants and residents.’

All of the housing providers mentioned by SHAC told Air Quality News that the safety and wellbeing of their tenants is their priority. L&Q said that their seven-year major works investment programme will target homes that have historically suffered from mould and damp, while One Housing stated that they intend to invest nearly £1bn in improving and repairing homes over the next five years.

Housing for Women have invested over £3m across their stock in the last year and have developed a mould and damp register based on customer feedback and have commissioned a full stock condition survey to inform future investment.

Lifestyle versus maintenance

Architect and author Tom Wooley explains that there is a long history of the responsibility for damp and mould problems being thrust onto tenants in his book Building Materials, Health and Indoor Air Quality.

‘For many years, condensation problems were blamed on the lifestyles of occupants, particularly in social housing, where excessive moisture came from such “anti-social” activities as washing and drying clothes, bathing, boiling kettles and using the wrong kind of heaters!’

However, research has since verified that construction and external factors play more of a role in the development of these issues than tenants’ behaviour.

Marion Lloyd-Jones, Service Design Lead at People Powered Retrofit, explains: ‘You create condensation in the house just by living in it – by breathing, cooking or washing – people make moisture. Our housing stock is 100 years old, and we do not live in these houses the same way that we used to live in them 100 years ago. So, if nothing has been done to the house to change this then of course we are going to get damp issues. These houses were designed to have a fire burning in every room, and now we have central heating, so our expectations of our homes are different now to when they were built.’

Marion says there are several lifestyle changes that people can make to reduce the amount of moisture they produce, such as using a tumble dryer instead of hanging clothes up to dry or investing in a dehumidifier, but for many low-income households these measures are not always economically viable.

People in fuel poverty are also often more susceptible to damp and mould because colder air cannot hold as much moisture, so if a home is underheated, moisture condenses onto walls and windows, creating the perfect conditions for mould to reproduce.

‘Damp and mould are inextricably linked with badly insulated and ventilated houses, so fuel poverty is an indoor air quality issue,’ explains Tom Wooley in his book.  

With energy bills set to rise by over 50% in April, The Resolution Foundation estimates that the number of families living in fuel poverty in England will treble.

This raises questions about the long-term impact of the worsening cost-of-living crisis on the prevalence of damp and mould issues among the most vulnerable households in the UK.

The impact on tenants

Mould and damp can lead to a range of health issues, including asthma, eye irritation, respiratory problems like wheezing and difficulty breathing, chest tightness, cough, throat irritation, skin reactions and rashes, headaches and persistent sneezing.

Even more serious problems can result from exposure to toxic mould, which is produced from mycotoxins.

This can especially affect social housing tenants, with over half of households in the social rented sector having a member with a disability or long-term health condition according to the English Housing Survey, making them more vulnerable to the health risks presented by mould.

Kim, another social housing tenant, has lived in her property in London for nearly 25 years. She tells Air Quality News that there is black mould on the windows in her living room and on her bedroom walls, as well as green mould on her belongings and her wooden bed frame.

‘On the many occasions that I have reported the issues, I have been told that it is condensation and that all I need to do is keep furniture and other items away from walls and to open my windows. The onus to remedy has been placed on me,’ she said.

Kim was diagnosed with Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome, in 2012, and has recently been diagnosed with arthritis. She also tells Air Quality News that she is suffering from fibromyalgia, muscle pain and weakness, extreme fatigue, insomnia, headaches, brain fog and breathlessness. She has had five chest infections in a two-year period.

‘I sometimes wonder if it is actually the mould that is affecting me as some of my symptoms are very similar,’ she says.

She tells Air Quality News that living with the mould problem and not seeing a resolution is ‘stressful, depressing and frustrating’. She reports that having to keep her windows open every day is exacerbating her medical conditions, as the cold worsens her muscle pain, and she is affected by the mould on a daily basis.

‘It is very worrying to wake up in the morning and feel a wheeze inside my lungs and to experience a heavy chest and coughing up small amounts of green phlegm intermittently through the years, even though I do not smoke. It baffles me and I often wonder if it is because of the mould in my bedroom.’

However, health issues from damp and mould can be much more immediate. One tenant, Erin, told us she had to move into social housing in August 2021, after she became too unwell to work and had spent all her savings. Within a week of moving into her East Sussex flat, she identified a leak from the mains pipe under the kitchen sink. She reported the issue to Clarion Housing and an emergency plumber was sent to address it.

However, she soon became aware that the kitchen units were black with rot and that there was visible mould growth on the concrete floor when the skirting was removed. Another plumber attended to fix a second leak, and the cabinet was so rotten from water damage that it broke while he was attempting to repair the plumbing issue.

‘I had to move out of the property as I had an allergic reaction to the mould growth and had to take a course of steroid medication. Fortunately, I was able to stay with my parents,’ she tells Air Quality News.

Eventually Erin decided to pay for a private plumber to fix the leak after it was not resolved on three occasions. After writing to her Council for support, a surveyor from Clarion attended the property to view the damage and agreed to replace the units and remediate the mould, although another leak and more mould growth was found in the process.

A Clarion Spokesperson asserted that the wellbeing of residents is their ‘top priority’, inspecting and taking appropriate action whenever an issue is reported to them. In this case, they told Air Quality News that they attended the property on several occasions to respond to reports of leaks and mould and took action to fix and remediate the issues.

However, Erin says that vulnerable people are not being provided with the safe and healthy environment they need when they end up in social housing.

‘I have a condition called short fibre neuropathy and experience poor health in general. The exposure to mould and stress that this has caused have been devastating for my health. Vulnerable, disabled, and ill people are often forced into social housing as they are unable to work. However instead of being provided with a safe and healthy environment they are living in housing that is making their health worse.’

Despite reassurances from housing providers that the safety and welfare of their tenants is paramount, it is clear that for many social housing tenants mould and damp problems are still part of their reality.

As energy bills rise and more families are pulled into fuel poverty, action is needed to protect vulnerable tenants from the devasting impacts of mould and damp.

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Originally Appeared Here

Tools that can produce accurate models of indoor air quality are to be designed in a project led by the University of Birmingham.

Tools that can produce accurate models of indoor air quality are to be designed in a project led by the University of Birmingham.

The new project “Indoor Air Quality Emissions & Modelling System (IAQ-EMS)”, is funded by the Met Office and UK Research and Innovation through the Strategic Priorities Fund. It aims to increase the understanding of indoor air pollutants and enable people planning or assessing an indoor space to build an accurate picture of the likely sources, levels and risks of pollutants.

While significant progress has been made in measuring outdoor air quality, the indoor environment poses additional challenges with multiple pollution sources, different sized spaces, and varying levels of ventilation.

In its first phase, researchers will take high-performance mobile air quality measuring instruments to different sites in the region and create a detailed inventory of indoor pollutants. These include cleaning products, pollution from cooking and heating, and volatile organic compounds given off by carpets or furniture.

Once this is completed, the team will start to describe the distribution of pollutants, model how they break down in the environment and get dispersed throughout an indoor space.

A range of environments will be modelled, from residential spaces to offices, schools, care homes and transport spaces.

All the data collected will be used to produce a series of tools that will:

• Catalogue different indoor pollutants and model likely concentrations in different indoor environments;
• Explain the detailed processes involved in chemical degradation and transport;
• Enable models of different indoor environments to be built showing the likely levels and distribution of pollutants and effects of interventions (opening windows, for example).

“We want to know, for example, how a pollutant moves from the kitchen into a different space, such as a bedroom. Because pollution produced during cooking is warm, it rises, so it could be that upstairs spaces are more affected by pollution than we realise. Our toolkit will help model and predict these scenarios to ultimately help people plan and manage their spaces to minimise risks.”

Lead researcher, Dr Christian Pfrang

Sarah Gooding, Met Office SPF Senior Project Manager for Clean Air, said: “The Met Office is delighted to award a Clean Air Programme Grant to Birmingham University, who will lead a consortium of researchers to facilitate investigation into Indoor Air emissions and the correlation with Outdoor Air quality. This is of particular importance as we try to further understand our exposure to harmful pollutants in both the indoor and outdoor environments.

“This work will further our knowledge of the effects of Indoor Air emissions and possible strategies to mitigate against their harmful effects. It will also enable people to undertake changes to promote a cleaner living environment and better air quality, helping to improve health.”

The three-year project also includes collaborators from the University of Reading, Cranfield University and the University of California.

Featured staff

Notes for editors

• For media enquiries please contact Beck Lockwood, Press Office, University of Birmingham, tel: +44 (0)781 3343348.
• The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100 institutions. Its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers, teachers and more than 6,500 international students from over 150 countries.

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Originally Appeared Here

AIR QUALITY is one of the most significant health challenges of our time. Repeated exposure to air pollutants is one of the top potential causes of chronic health problems such as lung cancer, cardiovascular disease and respiratory infections.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), in 2016 air pollution was linked to over 4.2 million deaths per year, accounting for 11.6% of all deaths worldwide. 

The quality of indoor air (IAQ) is often overlooked but it can affect people’s health as much as the more obvious outdoor ‘pollution’. An average person spends up to 22 hours a day indoors, so it is essential to ensure IAQ meets ongoing sustainable health objectives.

IAQ refers to the indoor air that circulates throughout the environment we work and live in. IAQ can be affected by: Microbial contaminants (i.e., mould and fungus) which depend on the temperature and humidity conditions of a room; gaseous pollutants (including carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) etc); dust particles or aerosols. 

There are many sources of indoor air pollution, including common cleaning products, air fresheners, aerosols, fuel burning appliances and even carpets, paints and building materials. On their own or collectively, these pollutants can all cause adverse health effects to occupants ranging from fatigue, headaches or eye, nasal and skin irritation through to asthma, COPD and even lung cancer.

Health-based ambient air quality standards are set at levels of pollutant concentrations that would result in adverse impacts on human health, so strategies, technologies and regulations are all developed with the aim of achieving a reduction in exposure. 

Air Quality monitors use two main methods of monitoring and analysis:

• The Gravimetric method uses a cassette to collect a dust sample, which is then sent to a laboratory for analysis. This is an accurate method which can be used to speciate. However, there is a delay between taking the sample and receiving the analysis. 
• Real-time air quality monitoring uses devices with laser photometer technology to count real-time concentrations of dust in different PM sizes e.g. PM10, PM4, PM2.5 & PM1. 

Personal monitors are programmed to trigger visual and audible alarms to alert the user when concentrations have exceeded pre-set thresholds. In area monitoring applications, data is also often sent to and stored in the cloud, to be accessed and downloaded remotely. With cloud real-time monitoring, it is now possible to create a network across a large area to document contaminant levels. This information is often used to support a reduction strategy or to show that an air quality standard has been achieved. 

Instruments are often calibrated against a standard test material commonly known as Arizona Road Dust, which is a good approximation of most ambient aerosol particles. Calibration factors allow for more accurate measurement of specific aerosols, as calculations are based on the properties of the specific compound being sought. 
For example, if the user is looking for cadmium, a custom calibration can be entered into a device, allowing for a highly accurate, very specific real-time measurement to be taken. 

At Shawcity’s in-house service & calibration centre, we can prepare a custom Calibration Factor for specific aerosols that have different properties to the standard test dust. Contact our Service Team to discuss your individual requirements: [email protected]

Shawcity offers an extensive range of real-time air quality monitors available to hire or buy, along with free unlimited technical support. From indoor monitors that measure particulate, smoke, fumes, mist, gas and VOCs through to outdoor environmental monitoring for temperature, humidity, PM1.0, PM2.5, PM10 and PMTotal, we will provide the right solution. 

Contact our friendly team to discuss your requirements. 

For more information visit: https://bit.ly/3Inoa1e
[email protected]
01367 899420
 

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Originally Appeared Here

It’s almost impossible to overstate how important a breath of fresh air is in our daily lives. Clean oxygen keeps our bodies and brains healthy and lets us perform at our best. That said, many people don’t understand or appreciate the benefits of clean air.

The fact is that the stale indoor air we breathe regularly isn’t very good for us. Our brains need clean air to operate, and air quality can even affect our mental health. The same is true for our lungs, which also need to pump fresh air throughout our bodies to keep us healthy.

Going outside often is crucial, and so is appreciating the need for clean air even indoors. For a guide to why you need fresh air daily, keep reading.

Your Brain Needs Oxygen

It should come as no surprise that our brains require a lot of resources to run efficiently. They consume the most energy out of any organ in our body, and they need a constant supply of oxygen to function. Around 20% of the oxygen you breathe goes to your brain.

Without it, your brain would start to shut down and you’d develop brain damage before too long. What’s more, is to keep a clear head, you need clean air. The fresher and better the air quality, the better your brain will perform.

“I need to get some air” isn’t only something you hear people say in movies. Going outside for a dose of fresh air can help you think, because the improvement in air quality literally clears your head. You’ll find you can concentrate more by improving the quality of the air you breathe.

Mental Health Matters

It’s about more than only a breath of fresh air, though. The clarity comes with another significant boost: to your mental health. As it turns out, the amount of serotonin your brain produces is reliant on your blood oxygen levels.

Going outside and filling your lungs with crisp, clean air will lift up your mood. The cleaner and fresher the air, the more pronounced the effect. The opposite is also true, as struggling to breathe increases anxiety, often causing panic attacks.

Your brain is happiest when it can function under optimal conditions. This means proper nutrition and hydration, but people always forget about air quality. Your brain needs oxygen as much as the rest of your body to keep working.

A happy and healthy brain will lead to a happy and healthier you as well. So while there’s no substitute for going outside, there are plenty of ways to get cleaner air indoors, too. You can check out sites like https://climeworks.com/subscriptions for solutions.

Your brain, body, and lungs will thank you.

Don’t Take Your Lungs for Granted

Let’s take a second to talk about your lungs. We use them every day to breathe, but many of us don’t appreciate how we do that. There are actually two main types of breathing that we do.

Apical Breathing

Apical breathing is the first one, and it’s also known as shallow breathing. We most often do this when we’re at rest and not spending tons of energy. The reason it’s called shallow breathing is that we only inhale air into the top part of our lungs during this process.

This is the breathing we often do indoors unless we’re exerting ourselves. It’s the way we breathe when doing boring office work or scrolling through social media on the couch. The other type of breathing is diaphragmatic breathing.

Diaphragmatic Breathing

As the name suggests, diaphragmatic breathing comes from deep in the lungs. The diaphragm is a pretty powerful muscle that sits right under the bottom of your lungs. When you need to breathe in super deep, this muscle activates to help the process.

Outdoor activities like running, walking, or sports, often trigger diaphragmatic breathing. When this happens, you gulp down more fresh air deep into your lungs. This has some serious benefits that apical breathing doesn’t have.

Benefits of Deep Breathing With Clean Air

Deep breathing with clean air is fantastic for your health. First off, you get more oxygen into your body and into all of the cells that need it. This improves oxygen flow through your body, such as to your brain.

Second, you can get rid of any airborne toxins lurking there by activating your lungs. A third benefit is that fresh air can help reduce your chances of getting sick. This isn’t some old wives’ tale or folk remedy, either.

Stale indoor air is more likely to carry pathogens like viruses and bacteria. The past few years of the pandemic have taught us a few things about this reality. These pathogens also have a reduced survival chance outside.

Part of the reason is they like humid environments, such as inside your home, and tend to die off in the cold outdoor air. Breathing in crisp outdoor air can act like a shock to many nasty pathogens trying to sneak into your lungs. This can reduce the chance of them multiplying and you getting sick.

You can add to this the fact that almost every organ and function works better with more clean air in your system. This includes your immune system, hormone production, mental health, digestion, and muscle recovery.

A Breath of Fresh Air

We all know that without air, we’d die, but many of us don’t appreciate why that air needs to be clean. Indoor air often isn’t as good, which can have negative impacts on our mental and physical health. It’s crucial we understand the necessity of clean air.

Going outdoors for a breath of fresh air does wonders for our overall well-being. It keeps our minds sharp, emotions balanced, and our natural immune and recovery systems ready to go.

Check out our other blog posts for more great guides about keeping your physical and mental health in check.

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Originally Appeared Here