{"id":855811,"date":"2020-05-08T10:50:54","date_gmt":"2020-05-08T17:50:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&p=855811"},"modified":"2020-07-16T08:25:07","modified_gmt":"2020-07-16T15:25:07","slug":"a-breath-of-fresh-air","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-living-atlas\/mapping\/a-breath-of-fresh-air","title":{"rendered":"A Breath of Fresh Air"},"author":7841,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":""},"categories":[22941],"tags":[588281,29851,24811],"industry":[],"product":[36581],"class_list":["post-855811","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mapping","tag-air-quality","tag-live-feeds","tag-pollution","product-arcgis-living-atlas"],"acf":{"short_description":"Keep track of global air quality with this new layer from OpenAQ in ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World","flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Go outside. Breathe deep. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s probably safe to do that where you are right now. How do I know? This map:<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"storymap","title":"","description":"","static":false,"storymap_url":"https:\/\/arcgis.com\/apps\/Media\/index.html?appid=978637bfe94b48869d0000fae306e030<\/a>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

 <\/p>\n

New to ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World is Recent Conditions in Air Quality (PM2.5)<\/a>. This layer brings in the latest PM 2.5 air quality measurements from OpenAQ<\/a>, an organization that aggregates data from national networks such as the EPA. The layer updates each hour<\/strong> with information from over 3,500 stations worldwide.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What is PM2.5?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Let\u2019s break down the term a bit.<\/p>\n

PM<\/strong> = particulate matter<\/em>, which can be anything from smoke, dust, pollen, soot, chemical aerosols, salt spray, water droplets, etc.<\/p>\n

2.5<\/strong> = the diameter of the particle in microns. How big is 2.5 microns?<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":853111,"id":853111,"title":"EPA_PM25_Graphic","filename":"EPA_PM25_Graphic.png","filesize":559561,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/05\/EPA_PM25_Graphic.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-living-atlas\/analytics\/explore-air-quality\/epa_pm25_graphic","alt":"comparison of particle size and human hair","author":"6461","description":"","caption":"","name":"epa_pm25_graphic","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":851231,"date":"2020-05-06 20:46:12","modified":"2020-05-08 16:46:24","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1950,"height":1361,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/05\/EPA_PM25_Graphic-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/05\/EPA_PM25_Graphic.png","medium-width":374,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/05\/EPA_PM25_Graphic.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":536,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/05\/EPA_PM25_Graphic.png","large-width":1547,"large-height":1080,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/05\/EPA_PM25_Graphic-1536x1072.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1072,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/05\/EPA_PM25_Graphic.png","2048x2048-width":1950,"2048x2048-height":1361,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/05\/EPA_PM25_Graphic-666x465.png","card_image-width":666,"card_image-height":465,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/05\/EPA_PM25_Graphic-1547x1080.png","wide_image-width":1547,"wide_image-height":1080}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

As you can see, 2.5 microns is pretty small. So small that these particles can penetrate deep into airways, damage tissues, and get into the bloodstream.<\/p>\n

Human exposure to high levels of PM2.5 increases the risk of respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses. The World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines<\/a>\u00a0provide long-term and short-term exposure limits to PM2.5:<\/p>\n