Air Protection
The Environmental Protection Division of the Ministry of Environment works with partner agencies to prevent pollution and protect the air we breath.
Important links:
- Air quality monitoring and reporting information
- BCAirquality.ca web siteThis site was developed by partner programs in the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Healthy Living and Sport. Content on the site includes:
- Air Quality 101
- B.C.'s Air Quality Readings
- B.C.'s Plans for Improving Air Quality
- Air and Airsheds
- Air Quality and Your Health
- Air Quality and Climate Change
- Assessing Air Quality
- Provincial Idle Reduction Initiative
- Regulatory Framework
- School Bus Retrofit Program
- Wood Stove Exchange
Air Quality Advisories
Last Updated: April 10, 2013; 8:17 a.m.There are no air quality advisories at present.
Note: Advisories are updated on this website during regular business hours. Outside business hours, visit Environment Canada's Weatheroffice website.Wildfire Smoke Forecasts Now Available
April 15, 2013: View an hour-by-hour forecast of smoke from wildfires in Western Canada for up to 48 hours in the future. Different exposure levels of smoke are coloured to express different concentrations of PM2.5 (fine particulate matter).Communities get Funding for Wood Stove Exchange
November 25, 2012: The B.C. government is providing a total of over $192,000 in grant funding to 14 communities/regional districts to encourage residents to replace their old wood stoves with cleaner burning models that will improve personal health and air quality, Environment Minister Terry Lake announced today.British Columbians Breathing Easier without their Old Wood Stoves
September 11, 2012: Applications are now being accepted for the 2013 Provincial Wood Stove Exchange. Local governments, nonprofit organizations and airshed/air quality management organizations in B.C. are eligible to apply. Visit theProposal Information and Requirements page for more information.
Government Invests in New Air Quality Monitoring Technology
August 17, 2012: This year the Province will invest $100,000 in 12 new state-of-the-art FEM (Federal Equivalent Method) air quality monitors, adding to the existing 22 already installed throughout the province. The new monitors have greater sensitivity and provide a more precise measure of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) than older monitors used since the 1990s.
For more information, see:This infographic:
PDF version
JPEG version When you open the JPEG, click on the image to see the full size.
News release
B.C. State of the Air Report 2012
July 12, 2012: The BC Lung Association has released its eighth annual State of the Air Report for British Columbia. The report provides a snapshot of air quality across the province, along with information about pollutants of greatest concern from a human health perspective. It also outlines the actions that are underway throughout British Columbia to address these issues.
New A-Z IndexBC Air Quality now has an A-Z Index to make it easier to find the air quality topic you want.Air Quality Bylaws in B.C.
March 19, 2012: The Ministry of Environment has released an updated 2011 Inventory of Air Quality Bylaws in British Columbia. This report is an inventory of bylaws addressing air pollution from open burning, vehicle idling and wood heating in communities across BC. It is a resource for communities contemplating adopting or revising air quality bylaws and for citizens concerned about air quality in their communities.Clear Air BC: Your guide to visual air quality in Metro Vancouver and the Lower Fraser Valley
March 1, 2012: Even relatively low levels of pollution can cause haziness that obscure the beautiful views that B.C. is famous for. The Clear Air BC site explains the visual air quality issue and links to web cameras that are used to track visual air quality. Visit www.clearairbc.ca.
Watch a Video on the AQHI and Outdoor Activity
May 10, 2011: We all know getting outside for sport and recreation is good for our health. But did you know you can help protect your health by checking the air quality in your community before you get moving?Check out this video!Provincial Idle Reduction Initiative: Pledge to Be Idle Free!
Join the provincewide movement to take action against climate change and improve air quality. Pledge to be idle free!
The Provincial Idle Reduction Initiative is aimed at helping British Columbian drivers to decrease unnecessary engine idling. If you’re going to be stopped for more than 10 seconds (except in traffic), turn off the engine.Air Quality 101
Air Quality 101 provides a basis for understanding air quality issues in British Columbia. It explains:- what air and the atmosphere are;
- emissions and pollutants;
- how air becomes polluted;
- the main air quality issues;
- how we monitor and assess air quality; and
- how we can take action to protect and improve air
Air Quality 101 also addresses the global issues of climate change and ozone depletion.In this section:
- What is Air Quality?
- How Air Quality is Degraded
- How We Measure Air Quality
- What We Can Do to Improve Air Quality
- Clean Air Day
Related Links:
- Air and Airsheds in B.C.
- Air Quality and Climate Change
- Key Topics (Air Quality)
- Air Quality and Your Health
- B.C.'s Air Quality Readings
- Air Quality Reports and Publications
- Resources for the General Public
- Resources for Youth and Teachers
What is Air?
Air is a precious resource that most of us take for granted. Air supplies us with oxygen, which is essential for our bodies to live. Without it, we would die within minutes.Pure air is a mixture of several gases that are invisible and odourless. It consists of about 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and less than 1% of argon, carbon dioxide, and other gases — as well as varying amounts of water vapour. Adults breathe in about 10-20 cubic metres of air every day. That’s about 20,000 breaths. Children breathe almost twice that amount because they are smaller, and their respiratory systems are still maturing.What is the Atmosphere?
The atmosphere is a mixture of gases that surround the earth. It is the air we breathe, the wind and rain, and the clouds in the sky. It is life giving, retaining heat and blocking out harmful rays (ultraviolet radiation) from the sun. The atmosphere is about 1,000 kilometres thick, and is made up of invisible layers that circle the planet. We live in the lowest and thinnest layer, called the troposphere, which is only about 14 kilometres thick.The bottom two kilometres of the troposphere are really our “home.” Most of the air and weather are there, along with most air pollutants. Two kilometres aren’t very much. It would take just two minutes to drive that distance, at 60 km per hour.Above the troposphere is the stratosphere. This is the relatively quiet, stable band of air in which the ozone layer is found and where our emissions of greenhouse gases and ozone-depleting substances go. There is no exact place where the atmosphere ends; it just gets thinner and thinner, until it merges with outer space.
In this section:
Related Links:
What is Air Quality?
Air Quality: A Definition
The term “air quality” means the state of the air around us. Good air quality refers to clean, clear, unpolluted air. Clean air is essential to maintaining the delicate balance of life on this planet — not just for humans, but wildlife, vegetation, water and soil. Poor air quality is a result of a number of factors, including emissions from various sources, both natural and “human-caused.” Poor air quality occurs when pollutants reach high enough concentrations to endanger human health and/or the environment. Our everyday choices, such as driving cars and burning wood, can have a significant impact on air quality.Ambient Air Quality
Ambient air quality refers to the quality of outdoor air in our surrounding environment. It is typically measured near ground level, away from direct sources of pollution.Indoor Quality
Air pollution isn't only an outdoor problem. The air in enclosed spaces, such as home, schools or workplaces, can also be polluted, from pollutants that have seeped in from the outdoors and pollutants emitted from indoor sources. In fact, some kinds of air pollution can be worse indoors than outdoors, such as tobacco smoke, mould, and chemicals released from synthetic fabrics, furnishings and household products. Indoor air quality is important, since Canadians spend about 90 percent of their time inside.In this section:
Related Links:
- What is Air?
- How Air Quality is Degraded
- How We Measure Air Quality
- What We Can Do to Improve Air Quality
- Clean Air Day
- Indoor Air Quality (BC Health Files)
B.C. Air Quality
How Air Quality is Degraded
Air quality is degraded when unwanted chemicals or other materials are released into the air in large enough amounts to harm the health of people, plants and animals, and our environment. This is called “air pollution,” and the harmful substances are called “air pollutants.” The quality of the air depends on the amount of pollutants, the rate at which they are released from various sources, and how quickly the pollutants disperse (or, conversely, how long they are trapped in an area).Many air pollutants occur as gases or vapours, but some are very tiny solid particles, such as dust, smoke or soot. Some are emitted from natural sources, such as volcanoes, while many others come from human activity.Air pollution can affect indoor air quality, as well. Indoor air pollutants include cigarette smoke, mould, dust mites, pet dander, formaldehyde, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and radon gas. (See Indoor Air Quality.)If air pollutants are in an area with good airflow, they will mix with the air and quickly disperse. However, when pollutants are trapped in an area, pollutant concentrations can increase rapidly. This can happen when weather conditions (e.g., light winds and a temperature inversion aloft), and/or terrain features (e.g., mountains) limit the transport of pollutants away from an area. The outcome is air pollution — or “poor” air quality, as defined by Canadian environmental standards. For more information on how air becomes polluted, see Factors Affecting Air Quality and What are Pollutants and Emissions?.In this section:
Related Links:
- What is Air?
- What is Air Quality?
- How We Measure Air Quality
- What We Can Do to Improve Air Quality
- B.C.'s Air Quality Readings
- Air Quality and Your Health
How We Measure Air Quality
The Province of British Columbia uses a number of methods to measure air quality, including permanent monitoring stations in communities, mobile instrumentation (e.g. on a truck or airplane), and industrial stack monitoring.These monitoring stations measure the presence of contaminants in the air, such as carbon monoxide (CO),nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), sulphur dioxide (SO2), and hydrogen sulphide (H2S).You'll find more detailed information on measuring air quality in Air Quality Monitoring.How We Collect and Measure Data
Contaminants are measured in one of two ways: either through continuous (real-time) or noncontinuous (discrete) monitoring. In continuous monitoring, air is constantly measured and the data is automatically transmitted to a central database. In noncontinuous monitoring, contaminants collect on a filter or canister over a specified period of time (such as one, three or six days). Then a technician collects the filter or canister and sends it to a certified laboratory for measurement and analysis.How We Analyze the Findings
Continuous and noncontinuous data are housed in a central data warehouse of the Ministry of Environment where they are screened by data validation technicians for errors. Once the data has been certified as correct (i.e., validated), the data can then be used for reporting out to the public, comparing with objectives and guidelines, regulatory purposes, and by scientists for more detailed analysis.How We Report Our Findings
Current, nonvalidated data from continuous monitoring stations is published hourly on our website. This data forms the basis for the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI). The AQHI is updated hourly for a number of communities in British Columbia.Validated data can also be found on the site [link to come]. This data is used to produce a number of reports, including regional reports, an annual State of the Environment report, and reports by third parties, such as the BC Lung Association, and the Office of the Provincial Health Officer.Related Links:
- What is Air?
- What is Air Quality?
- How Air Quality is Degraded
- What We Can Do to Improve Air Quality
- Clean Air Day
- B.C.'s Air Quality Readings
- Reports and Publications — Monitoring
B.C. Air Quality
What We Can Do to Improve Air Quality
Getting a breath of fresh air isn't as easy as it used to be. We've loaded the atmosphere with all kinds of pollutants that have triggered a number of serious atmospheric ills. The atmosphere is, in effect, talking back. It's warning us that it can't sustain more of our abuse without causing harm — not only to humans but to the planetary ecosystem.We now have the power to destroy the delicate balance that sustains the Earth's many kinds of life, including human beings. Saving the planet is also within our grasp.Rewards of Change
Reducing emissions that cause poor air quality, ozone depletion and climate change requires teamwork. Individuals, communities, industry and business, and governments all contribute to pollution — so we can all be part of the solution.The causes, sources and impacts of air quality issues are interconnected. Therefore, addressing one air quality issue can often help to reduce other kinds of pollution. Particulate matter, for example, is mainly released by fossil fuel and wood burning. Cutting down on this combustion will not just reduce particulate matter. It will decrease many other emissions, such as carbon dioxide (in vehicle exhaust), which is the main cause of global climate change.The rewards of addressing air pollution include improved human health, increased productivity and reduced health costs and a healthier, more productive environment. In turn, these benefits will result in a healthier, more sustainable economy.In this section:
- What Individuals Can Do
- What Communities Can Do
- What Business and Industry Can Do
- What Governments Are Doing
Related Links:
- What is Air?
- What is Air Quality?
- How Air Quality is Degraded
- How We Measure Air Quality
- What We Can Do to Improve Air Quality
- Clean Air Day
- B.C.'s Air Quality Readings
- Air Quality and Climate Change: Weighing the Options
- Clean Air Online (Environment Canada)
Clean Air Day
Clean Air Day in B.C. and Canada
Individual action to protect the air and reduce greenhouse gases is the focus of Clean Air Day, which was on Wednesday June 6 this year (2012).Clean Air Day started out as a B.C. event in 1992, but has since become a national day. B.C. and Canada face several serious air quality and environmental issues, such as smog, fine particulates, ozone depletion and global climate change.The spirit of Clean Air Day is caught in this poem by the B.C. Ministry of Health's Clara Sia: Summer Promise (PDF: 235 KB/1 page).Check out the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) to see how the index and health information can help you make decisions on your outdoor activities.
A Teacher's Guide to Clean Air (PDF: 2 MB/45 pages) explains the key air quality issues and how we can become involved in protecting the air.The Clean Air Crusaders (Captain Air, the Winged Wonder and the Green Protector) are clean-air super heroes. You can get a Clean Air Crusaders poster by contactingBCAirQuality@gov.bc.ca.
Each one of us plays a part in polluting the air. The good news is we can play an important role in decreasing emissions.Start your new clean-air lifestyle today!
In this section:
- Clean Air Day in British Columbia
- Clean Air Day across Canada
- Clean Air Day Posters
- Make Clean Air Your Choice!
Related Links:
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