According to a WHO report, air pollution in the world has increased by 8% in just five years. In addition, seven million people die annually from breathing poor quality air.
One of the countries where the problem of pollution is most pressing is China , whose large cities exceed the safety limits established by the health authorities on a daily basis. Because of this, scientist Yann Boquillod decided to found AirVisualEarth , an online air pollution map that uses data from satellites and more than 8,000 sampling stations to show air pollution in real time.
The goal: to make people aware of the seriousness of the problem, encourage them to share data and pressure governments to take appropriate measures to reduce air pollution . “As surprising as the statistics are, many people are still not aware of the relationship between deaths and the quality of the air in the places where we live,” says the researcher on the project website.
Interactive maps show the movement of particles less than 2.4 microns in diameter that are able to penetrate our lungs , and this information can be combined with weather data and wind patterns. Users can move, zoom, and rotate the globe to better visualize the movements of toxic particles in the planet’s air currents. In addition, you can check the air quality in real time of the site where you are, and the website also offers three-day air pollution forecasts for 6,000 cities around the world. The researcher has just started selling low-cost meters that are used to measure indoor and outdoor air pollution. “People want to share this data,” explains Boquillod.
The application has been launched coinciding with the end of the COP22 Climate Summit held in Marrakech, with a clear intention of making clear the urgency of solving the air pollution crisis .
You can check here the map that shows the movement of pollution, and also search by country or locality the air quality of thousands of cities in the world.
