OK all you outdoor Houston types... you have been warned! Please be careful. ======================= Limit time in smoky air, officials say As smoke from fires in Mexico is expected to pass over southeast Texas this week, health officials warn people with respiratory problems to limit exposure to outdoor air. Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services issued an air-quality watch and health alert for air pollutants likely to reach higher levels through Wednesday. If fires continue burning in Mexico and Central America, strong winds from the Gulf of Mexico could increase chances that smoke levels could reach unhealthy levels in Harris County. "If the atmospheric conditions are right, the smoke can migrate farther north to our area," said Lance Wood, a National Weather Service meteorologist. "It would create hazy conditions and cause irritation to people with respiratory problems." People with heart or lung disease, the elderly, children and pregnant women should limit time outdoors and limit prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors, county health officials say. Limit smoke exposure by closing doors and windows, and turn air-conditioning systems on recirculation mode. Smoke from the fires began moving into South Texas on Tuesday. County health officials said most healthy adults and children should recover quickly from any symptoms because of short-term exposure, such as coughing or eye irritation.
Every year now we have to put up with these d@mned Mexican/ South American agriculture fires, why must they burn their old crops? Well I know the answer to that, but there must be a better way to handle this for everyones sake. If the air is bad in Austin (most of central/ south Texas) it must be horrible for the farmers, and anyone in the region. What can you do, even though this is becoming a yearly event it happens from US sources as well. When that photochemical smog from the US mid-west came though last fall it was just as bad. Hopefully the haze will be gone in a week if not...its all Bush's fault
Normally when you land in an airplane you descend through the clouds and then emerge in clear air pretty high above the ground. It then takes a few minutes to get low enough to land as clouds are usually pretty high up. Well, about five years ago my wife and I returned from Hawii (honeymoon). We started our descent into IAH and entered the "cloud" cover. When we emerged, instead of having a ways to go to get to the ground, we were right on top of the runway! Yikes! It turns out, it wasn't "clouds" we were descending through, it was smoke from Mexico! It was so thick we couldn't see the ground until we were like 100 feet (?) over it!
I heard that on the radio this morning. I can smell it and my eyes are watering. If they're going to burn crops, the least they could do is burn their marajuana (sp?) crops too!
