Summer heat can lead to poor air quality. LPM’s Bill Burton talks with Tawana Andrew to learn why.This transcript was edited for length and clarity.Bill Burton: It's time for us to take a look at the Science Behind the Forecast as I'm joined by WAVE 3 meteorologist Tawana Andrew. Good morning, Taw ana.Tawana Andrew: Good morning. Today's topic is kind of about the smells of summer.BB: The city has some interesting aromas that can be exacerbated by heat, and that affects the air quality. That's what we're talking about today. The air quality. What do we need to know?TA: On those hot summer days, you have plenty of sunlight, and that reacts with nitrogen oxides and other organic compounds. That creates ground level ozone. Usually, ozone is something that you want to have around. But that's only when it's in the upper levels of the atmosphere, because it's a colorless gas that basically shields the planet from the sun's ultraviolet rays. Once it's closer to the ground, what you end up with is something that can cause respiratory issues.BB: Not good.TA: Then the high temperatures just accelerate the chemical reactions that lead to the creation of ground level ozone. The fact that we're traveling a lot more in the summer months doesn't necessarily help the situation. That leads to increased vehicle emissions and air pollution, especially in more densely populated areas. You have those increased vehicle emissions coupled with particles being released by factories, power plants, maybe there's wildfires this summer, all of those things can create and exacerbate any ongoing issues that we may have.Then speaking of smelly smells, high temperatures accelerate the biological processes that break down organic waste and wastewater, and that releases the pollutants and those smells that we don't really like to smell.BB: I thought the smells of summer used to be fresh cut grass, but they're a little different here.TA: They're a little bit different sometimes. We like the grass smell, not so much the other smells.Then, when you have high pressure sitting over a region for an extended period of time, usually you end up with light wind, and that can make the air quite stagnant. Stagnant air means all those pollutants continue to accumulate, and air quality continues to degrade. This is one of those situations where you actually want some rainfall, because that allows the particulates to be pulled out of the atmosphere.However, if it's sunny, if it's hot and dry, those particulates are going to stay. The high humidity actually can make it worse, because you have those particulates in the atmosphere, combining with the water molecules in the air, and that creates a platform for them to just continue to linger in the atmosphere. It creates more of a haze on those more humid summer days. That's why the sky looks a little bit more hazy than it would on a day with some lower humidity. During the hot, dry stretches of summer, we're always talking about the heat and the humidity, but we also have to consider the air quality. Especially if you want to stay as healthy as possible. ...read more read less