Smoking vs Air Pollution - Mapped

Breathing in the polluted air of Los Angeles (based on the last hour's air quality) is equivalent to living for half a year with a smoker.

Vivergy's new Share My Air map allows you to view the current air quality for U.S. and Canadian cities. The markers on the map give a general guide to the last hour's air quality at each location. If you select a marker on the map you can read some easy to understand comparisons of the effect of the current air quality on your health.

The air quality is compared to sharing a car with a smoker, living with a smoker and to a number of cigarettes smoked per year. If you click on a marker you can also see the same comparisons based on the last day's air quality, the last months or the last six months.

For example, the air quality in San Francisco over the last six months is equivalent to spending 17 minutes in a car with a smoker each day. If the air quality of the last 6 months is consistent all year then living in San Francisco will be equivalent to smoking 4 cigarettes per year or living for 2 months of the year with a smoker.