Ozone Season Just Ahead

With ozone season just around the corner, big cities everywhere are getting worried about low visibility and magnified allergies. The season begins Monday, May 1st and extends through September 30th. Jilayne Jordan, Spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Transportation says that, Elderly people, kids with asthma or allergies and people who exercise outdoors that when there's a smog alert day, it's extremely hard on the lungs. Mark Ressler, Senior Meteorologist at The Weather Channel, says weather can worsen the problem. The stagnant conditions of summer can make it worse. You get into the same pattern where the air mass isn't changing. You build up air matter day to day. You get those steely-gray skies and visibility goes down," he said. That means large cities including Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Atlanta are prime targets. Atlanta, in particular, is facing a backlash not just from the environment but from the government as well. According to Jordan, the Federal government has frozen transportation funds because the southern city is not in compliance with current air quality standards, set by the Environmental Protection Agency. We didn't address it when we first realized and now we're paying the price," said Jordan. The reason, big cities are so vulnerable to ozone season is a simple matter of numbers. Jordan says that It's becoming a problem where there are a lot of people and a lot of cars. Industries are a problem