• Charlotte (2009) Photo credit: Caleb Howell

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Weather Service and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have declared this week National Air Quality Awareness Week.

In its honor, we thought we'd remind you that can get daily air quality updates online from the North Carolina Division of Air Quality's website and even on Twitter.

You might also want to check out the American Lung Association's "State of the Air 2011" report for the Charlotte-Gastonia-Salisbury areas. Unfortunately, on the organization's "Most Polluted Cities" list, our area ranks No. 10 (out of 277) for ozone and 97 (again, out of 277) for 24-hour, or short-term, particle pollution (think small bits of gunk).

The ALA offers information pages and videos explaining what ozone and particle pollution is, if you'd like to learn more about how those types of pollution are created and how they impact our health. The bottom line: Our air and health would be much better without the stuff.

In good news, our air quality seems to have improved slightly in recent years. Future results may not be so positive, however, since the EPA is expected to set new smog standards this summer.

Susan Stabley, from The Charlotte Business Journal, reported on the EPA's new standards this past December, when they were delayed (again):

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has delayed – for the third time – an announcement on stricter ozone standards that are used as a benchmark for clean air.

The announcement was expected Dec. 31. Now, the EPA says it intends to set a final standard by the end of July.

The new regulations would directly affect the Charlotte region, considered the 10th-worst area in the country for smog, according to the American Lung Association.

The new numbers could be set as low as 60 to 70 parts per billion – and that will almost certainly curtail future recruitment of manufacturing and other industries that contribute to air pollution.

Read the rest of the post, and find out how industry is responding to the proposed change, here.