The Real-Time World Air Quality Index Visual Map Is Excellent ...

Air pollution is a global problem. According to the World Health Organization, 92% of global population lives in the places where air quality ... SkiptomaincontentSkiptosecondarymenuSkiptoprimarysidebarSkiptofooterLastUpdatedonJune12,2020CareOurEarth(Figure1.Real-timeWorldAirQualityIndexVisualMap)Airpollutionisaglobalproblem.AccordingtotheWorldHealthOrganization,92%ofglobalpopulationlivesintheplaceswhereairqualitylevelsexceedWHOlimits.Airpollutioniscausingatleast4.5millionprematuredeathseachyearworldwide.Thereal-timeAirQualityIndex(AQI)hasbeenpopularlyusedtocommunicatetothepublichowpollutedtheaircurrentlyis.Since2007,theWorldAirQualityIndexprojectteamhasbeenprovingatransparentairqualityinformationeverydayformorethan70countries,coveringmorethan9000stationsin600majorcities.Allofthereal-timeinformationisvisibleontheReal-timeWorldAQIVisualMap(Figure1),whichisupdatedeveryminute.Withthedata,anUS-basednon-profitorganization–BerkeleyEarth–developaReal-timeVisualMapofAirPollution(Figure2),onwhichthevaluesarereplacedwithdifferentcolors,makingthemapvisuallymuchimpressive.AEuropeanAQIVisualMap (Figure3)hasalsobeendevelopedonthebasisofthesamedataset.(Figure2.Real-timeVisualMapofAirPollutiondevelopedbyBerkeleyEarth)Themapprovidesusinvaluableinformation,whichisnotonlyusefulforresearchandacademicpurposes,butalsoforpromotingpublicawarenessofthecoverageandseverityoftheproblem.BeforeIhadalookatthemap,IwasjustawareofairpollutionprobleminChinaandIndia.WhenItookalookatthemapforthefirsttime,IgotanimaginationthatairpollutionisnotonlyaprobleminAsiabutalsoinEurope.AsIgofurther,Irealizethatthecoverageandseverityofairpollutionhavebeensubstantiallyunder-demonstratedonthevisualmapsofar.Inotherwords,theReal-timeWorldAQIVisualMapisnotcompleteyet.Anotablefeatureofthereal-timeAQIVisualMapmaybethatrelevantdataarenotavailablefornearlyallcountriesinCentralAsiaincludingKazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan,Uzbekistan,Turkmenistan,Tajikistan,AfghanistanandPakistan,andsomecountriesinEasternEuropesuchasUkraine,BelarusandRussia.MostofthesecountrieswereoncepartoftheformerSovietUnionoritssatellitestates.Thisremindmeofastateofgeopoliticaltension(calledthe“coldwar”)afterWorldWarIIbetweenpowersintheEasternBlocandpowersintheWesternBloc.(Figure3.EuropeanAirQualityIndexVisualMap)Initially,Ididn’trealizethatairpollutionisanenvironmentalproblemforthesecountries.Afterreadingrelevantinformationonline,Iwassurprisedforthatairpollutionisalsoaseriousconcerninthesecountries.Forexample,Pakistan,AfghanistanandIranareamongthe10countrieswiththeworld’sdirtiestair.Turkmenistan,Tajikistan,Uzbekistan,KazakhstanandIraqareonthelistof10nationswiththemostdeathsfromairpollution.TherearereportsthatairpollutionisalsoasignificantenvironmentalprobleminUkraine.Nowadays,airpollutionisnolongeraproblemforeachparticularcountry.Itisatrans-boundary,regionalandglobalpublichealthissue.Onlineinformationindicatesthatassessmentsof theAQIarealsoconductedinsomeofthesecountries.SincerelyhopethatassessmentsoftheAQIcanbeconductedinallofthesecountriesandthatrelevantdatafromthesecountriescanbeaddedontoorconnectedwiththereal-timeAQIVisualMapsoon.Thesecondfeatureofthereal-timeAQIVisualMapmaybethatthereislittleinformationpertainingtoairqualityinoffshoreareas,suchasEastChinaSea,SouthChinaSea,BayofBengal,ArabianSea,BlackSeaandTyrrhenianSea,andindesertorruralareas,includingrelevantareasinMongolia,Iran,SaudiArabiaandEgypt.Inordertoestimatethecoverageandseverityofairpollution,asaddressedinmypreviouspost(clickhere),boththeAQIandtherangeofairpollutionareneeded.Withtheavailableinformation,thecoverageandseverityofairpollutioninChinaandintheMiddleEastmaybesubstantiallyunder-demonstratedorunder-estimated.Foranexample,relevantreportshaveindicatedthatSaudiArabia,Qatar,Egypt,CameroonandUnitedArabEmiratesareonthelistof10nationswiththehighestairpollution,andthatEgypt,Mongolia,IraqandSaudiArabiaareonthelistof10nationswiththemostdeathsfromairpollution.However,AQIinformationfortheseareasislimited.Thus,thereal-timeairqualityandthecoverageofairpollutionintheseareasshouldbemonitored.Giventhedifficultyincollectingrelateddataindesertandoffshoreareas,aminimum-datastrategymaybeapplied.Inaddition,relevantinformationinAfricaandSouthAmericaseemstobeinsufficient.Ibelieveinthatmoreair-qualityinformationfromtheseareascanbeaddedontotheReal-timeAQIMapinthefuture.RelatedPosts:OverviewofAirPollutionandFossilCO2EmissionsinAsiaFossilCO2EmissionsPerSquareKilometer–AValid…AirPollutioninTop20MostPopulousCountriesin2019AirPollutioninG20Countriesin2019China’sAirPollutionImprovedAsaResultof…10CountrieswiththeWorld'sDirtiestAirin2019ReaderInteractionsLeaveaReplyCancelreplyYouremailaddresswillnotbepublished.Requiredfieldsaremarked*CommentName*Email*Savemyname,email,andwebsiteinthisbrowserforthenexttimeIcomment. 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