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This layer plots live fine-particle (PM2.5) air quality on the globe, one dot per ground-based monitoring station. The data comes from OpenAQ, which aggregates measurements from government reference monitors and other public stations around the world and exposes the latest reading for each one. We pull the most recent PM2.5 value (in micrograms per cubic metre) for up to roughly 12,000 of the ~25,000 stations OpenAQ tracks and refresh it about every 15 minutes; a density slider lets you thin the points when a region gets crowded. Each station is coloured by its concentration using the US-EPA AQI bands: green for Good (≤12 µg/m³) through yellow and orange, up to red and purple for Very Unhealthy and Hazardous air (above 250 µg/m³). Click any station to inspect its exact value, category and last-updated time. Unlike the US-only severe-weather alerts layer, this is a global, measured signal — real sensors on the ground, not a forecast model — so coverage is densest where official monitoring networks are thickest (Europe, North America, India, East Asia) and sparser elsewhere. It is one of about 29 live layers you can toggle on the same interactive Earth.
Data source: OpenAQ
From OpenAQ (openaq.org), an open data platform that aggregates PM2.5 readings from government reference monitors and other public ground stations worldwide. We show each station's latest measured value, not a model or forecast.
Colour follows the US-EPA AQI categories for PM2.5: green is Good (≤12 µg/m³), then yellow, orange and red for increasingly unhealthy air, up to purple for Hazardous (above 250 µg/m³). Click a station for its exact µg/m³ value and category.
We refresh roughly every 15 minutes, pulling the latest PM2.5 reading for up to about 12,000 of the ~25,000 stations OpenAQ tracks. A density slider lets you reduce how many points are drawn in busy regions.
Coverage reflects where ground monitoring exists. Regions with dense official networks (Europe, North America, India, East Asia) show many stations; areas with little public monitoring appear sparse or blank because no station is reporting there.