Summary
Last week, smoke from Canadian wildfires caused air quality alerts across the United States. Air quality is a concern for everyone, but it can be especially important if you have certain health conditions. If you want to track current air quality near you, here are four places with up-to-date alerts.
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Recently, wildfires in Canada caused severe air quality alerts across the eastern portion of the continent. Air quality is important for everyone, but it’s especially important if you have certain health conditions. If you want to monitor the air quality near you, here are four places that have up-to-date alerts.
For Personal Tech Media, this is Two Minute Tech. I’m Jim Herman.
First, the website Purple Air displays data from a collection of monitors worldwide. Provide your location or allow the app to access it from your device, and you’ll see air quality readings from around your area. Purple Air doesn’t have an app, but the website works well on any screen size.
Second, Local Haze delivers real-time alerts based on a variety of sources. The free version only monitors based on your current location, but you can subscribe to get alerts for a specific area or even a specific sensor. Currently, Local Haze is only available for iOS.
Third, AirNow is an app from the Environmental Protection Agency, providing the most accurate and up-to-date government data on air quality. It provides data for over 500 cities across the United States. AirNow is available for both iOS and Android.
And finally, you can also check the local air quality on an app you probably already have on your phone. Google Maps now offers a layer that displays the current air quality right on the map. Tap the Layers button in the top right and select the Air Quality Layer. You’ll see the up-to-date data from your region.