To report ozone pollution levels to the public, the Environmental Protection Agency uses a color-coded Air Quality Index. "Green" means good air quality; "yellow" moderate; "orange" moderately unhealthy - which means unhealthy for pollution-sensitive groups such as people with respiratory diseases; and "red," which means unhealthy for everyone.

In our area, the Ozone Action Partnership helps get the word out about unhealthy ozone-level forecasts. This partnership consists of dozens of local businesses, organizations, and government agencies. As an example, if tomorrow is forecast to be a "Code Red" day, then this afternoon the Partnership would have declared an "Ozone Action! Day," a term used to focus attention on ozone problems to come tomorrow.

This declaration serves two purposes. First, it's a health notice, especially for those most sensitive to ozone, such as children, adults who work outdoors, and people with asthma. Second, an Ozone Action! Day is a call to all of us to try and reduce the build-up of ozone. And tomorrow night I'll offer a few suggestions on how you can help do that.