Shanghai Air Pollution: 1.3 cigarettes per day – Sh**t! I Smoke

About Sh**t! I Smoke

Publicizing pollution facts and climate change warnings doesn’t seem to convince our communities of the environmental issues we face today. Scientists use obscure measurements, journalists cite consequences that will take decades to arrive… But what if we discovered that, just by breathing in our cities, everyone ends up “smoking” the equivalent of a pack of cigarettes per month?

Sh**t! I Smoke is an app that translates daily air quality data into tangible information for the majority of the population. The app connects Berkeley Earth’s rule of thumb (one cigarette per day is the rough equivalent of a PM2.5 level of 22 μg/m3) to open databases of Air-Quality Stations worldwide.

Use location to discover the air quality near you, or search on a map for stations elsewhere. Created to raise awareness to air pollution, the tool is free, open-source, and respectful of your privacy. It was able to create a discussion around the subject of air pollution globally, from TV shows in California to newspapers in China.