The Smokescreen
- AQI Peak
- 0
- PM2.5 µg/m³
- 180
Born in coal plants and diesel engines, PM2.5 particles are so tiny they slip past your body's defenses, embedding in lung tissue for decades. The invisible tax on every breath.
−12 yrs lung lifeCheck current AQI, PM2.5 and air pollution near you. Explore the live map, compare cities, follow pollution trends, and get practical health guidance.

Air quality can significantly affect your respiratory health.
Live PM2.5 for your city, adjusted for how you spend your day -- your commute, time outdoors, and the hours indoors -- to estimate what you actually breathe.
Estimate the annual impact on your productivity and health using live air quality data.
Your actual age and your lungs' biological age can diverge by decades in high-pollution cities. Find out where you stand.
Born in coal plants and diesel engines, PM2.5 particles are so tiny they slip past your body's defenses, embedding in lung tissue for decades. The invisible tax on every breath.
−12 yrs lung lifeGround-level ozone forms when sunlight bakes vehicle exhaust. On hot summer days it peaks in cities, causing chest tightening and triggering asthma attacks in millions.
−6 yrs lung lifeEvery rush hour produces a new surge of nitrogen dioxide. Children who grow up near highways show permanently reduced lung capacity — a sentence written in exhaust fumes.
−8 yrs lung lifeAs forests burn hotter and longer, smoke blankets cities thousands of miles away. In 2023, Canadian wildfires turned New York's sky orange. The new normal.
−15 yrs lung lifeFive days of toxic coal smoke and fog killed an estimated 12,000 Londoners. Hospitals overflowed. The Thames Valley became unbreathable. This disaster gave birth to modern clean-air legislation.
CatastrophicAt peak industrial expansion, Linfen residents hung wet cloths over their doorways daily to catch the soot. Children played indoors year-round. Coal mines ran 24/7.
SevereChina halted factories and banned half of Beijing's vehicles to host a "clean" Olympics. AQI still reached 188. Athletes wore masks. Marathon start times shifted to dawn.
LegendaryDelhi's annual average AQI has exceeded 150 for the past decade, meaning residents breathe air classified as "Unhealthy" for the average day. Equivalent to ~4 cigarettes/day, every day.
Annual Record"Air pollution is the world's largest single environmental health risk, responsible for one in eight deaths globally."
-- World Health Organization

You've probably blamed a slow workday on bad sleep, too much coffee, or the quarterly review looming on your calendar. But there's another variable almost no one factors in — the air you're breathing right now.
Read article
Children breathe roughly 50% more air per kilogram of body weight than adults, and their lungs are still forming. In a city where the AQI regularly crosses 200, that is a daily calculation every parent is making — whether they realize it or not.
Read article
Ten years ago, you couldn't see the mountains from Beijing's city center. Today, on many days, you can. That's not a metaphor. It's measured, documented, and replicable. It's one of the most under-told environmental stories of our time.
Read article