This summer, take simple steps for better air!

You can’t see it, smell it, or taste it. This invisible pollutant even accumulates the most on hot and sunny blue-sky days, when the Colorado air appears clear. Yet ground-level ozone is the Front Range’s most pressing air quality problem, impacting our health and environment each summer.

Ozone is simply three oxygen atoms stuck together. High up in the atmosphere, stratospheric ozone (the“ozone layer”) serves an important purpose: it protects us from the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. But at ground level, high concentrations of ozone are toxic to people and plants: irritating our throats and lungs, making it difficult to breathe, increasing our susceptibility to respiratory infections, and exacerbating ailments such as asthma. Exposure to ozone is also not healthy for your heart over time.

Where does this pollution come from? Ground-level ozone (also called surface-level ozone, or tropospheric ozone) is formed when two chemicals, volatile organic compounds (VOC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), react in the sunshine and heat that build up on Colorado summer days. These emissions are primarily produced from our gas-powered vehicles, gas-powered lawn equipment, and (you guessed it) oil and gas production.

Why is it a problem here, and not elsewhere? Ozone builds up to unhealthy levels in the Front Range due to these human-caused emissions being concentrated in a highly populated 9-county area, our plentiful summer heat and sunshine, and the region's geography and weather patterns, which trap it against the western mountains. As a result, summer ozone levels are often highest in the western and southern part of the Denver metro (think Boulder foothills, Golden, and Chatfield), although this pollution is the result of emissions generated over a much wider area.

Both colorless and odorless, ozone is different than wildfire smoke, particulate pollution, or the infamous “brown cloud” from decades past. But we have made good progress on ground-level ozone pollution over the years! We just have a bit further to go, to make the Front Range a healthier place for all of us – especially those who are active outdoors.

So what can you do? First, sign up for ozone alerts from the Regional Air Quality Council (RAQC)’s Simple Steps. Better Air. program to receive timely updates by text or email when summer ozone levels are high in the Front Range: SimpleStepsBetterAir.org/signup-for-alerts. You can also sign up for email air quality alerts from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), which include information on ozone, wildfire smoke, and particulate matter throughout the year.

Second, take some Simple Steps for Better Air in the summer to reduce your emissions! Find yourself driving a lot? Skip just two car trips per week by carpooling, combining errands, and walking, taking a scooter, bike, bus, or the light rail to get where you need to go. Avoid idling your gas-powered car in the driveway or parking lot for the AC — instead, roll down the windows, and turn the car off when not driving. You’d be surprised how much idling a car contributes to air pollution: it’s equal to 150 balloons’ worth of pollution per minute!

Or, consider a low- or zero-emissions vehicle, like an electric vehicle (EV), when it's time to purchase a new vehicle.

Own or manage a property with a grass lawn? Switch to emissions-free, electric lawn equipment with a 30% discount statewide! Or mow after 5 p.m. when possible, to keep emissions from building up in the heat of the day.

And as many of us do these days, you can work from home at least one day a week and eliminate your commute altogether!

Visit SimpleStepsBetterAir.org this summer for more information about how to reduce your ozone impact this summer and help your Colorado community breathe easier. Stay tuned for an updated website and more information about ozone and air quality tailored towards outdoor athletes in 2025.

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Want to get involved as an outdoor athlete, and get free stuff? Take our outdoor athlete survey, by clicking here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSczIn3yrN6Vj7b5DCKKKLUdlXQ5oolAl-3fJwtHDkRG54fW9g/viewform

Want to learn more? You can learn about ozone’s impact on your health from CDPHE as well as more about ground-level ozone from the EPA. Read about How The Changing Climate Is Impacting Your Breathing And What You Can Do About It.