Starting Wednesday night, people in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky are being asked to limit their car usage.
Starting Wednesday night, people in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky are being asked to limit their car usage and walk, bike, carpool, or use public transportation instead, in an effort to reduce ozone-forming emissions during a heat wave and air quality alerts.
Large swaths of the Midwest and Northeast are in the throes of a heat wave. The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued heat advisories, one in Ohio remaining in effect until Friday evening, as the state expects « heat index values of 100 to 104 degrees », and another in Indiana and Kentucky until Saturday evening given « a prolonged period of dangerously hot conditions with heat index values near 100 degrees. »
In addition to heat advisories in the region, air quality alerts are in effect from midnight Wednesday to midnight Thursday given that « levels of ozone within the region may approach or exceed unhealthy standards. » To help minimize additional emissions, local officials in the three states are advising residents against driving.
