This map reveals New York Cities neighborhoods with the worst air pollution and exposure risks.
There are two maps placed in the photo, the one on the left indicates air pollution, and the one on the right indicates active exposure index at night (AEIN). Both maps are easily distinguished as the map of New York, where only the shadings appear different depending on the area. The five burrows are labeled with their Names so that it can be easily recognizable. The air pollution map uses more warmer colors such as red, orange and yellow. The darkest color, Red, indicates the more polluted areas, also because red is associated with danger. The yellow areas in the map indicate the least air-polluted areas in New York. On the AEIN map, the colors are cooler as it is different shades of blue. The darkest shade represents the highest index and the lightest shade of blue indicates the lowest index. The color blue was used as blue is associated with nighttime.
The map is intended to people living in NYC. The MIT team came up with a new tool for determining the air-quality conditions and exposure hazards of different areas of the city: cellphones. Using cellphone data collected from New Yorkers over 120 days, and focusing on the prevalence of PM2.5 (a specific noxious particle) at different times of day, the researchers found that New Yorkers who live and work in Manhattan are exposed to more toxic pollution than residents who leave their Manhattan jobs and go home to the far reaches of the outer boroughs.
The editorial used both facts and explains how the PM2.5 (Air pollution map) is a fine particulate matter of diameter less than 2.5 micrometers. In the bottom they explain how tiny dust particles, when inhaled lead to numerous health conditions including early deaths, and heart and lung related illnesses. Also on the AEIN map, it explains how exposure indices are vastly different during the day and night in NYC. This is due to people moving in and out of the urban center for work and other activities. They not only displayed the percentage of air pollution, but also the AEIN, which also contributes to the pollution in NYC. What motivated their decision was the general health of the population in NYC. This maps gives general ideas of the air quality in NYC, which can hopefully awaken the population in New York to make a change in the environment.
Overall I think these maps are very successfully created and aimed at showing the air pollution quality and AEIN index. However, one this I might have recommended is incorporating different reasons that attribute to the quality of air, such as vehicles. They could add areas where post areas use vehicles and public transportation, this could give people an idea of how much vehicles do affect the air we breath in, and can hopefully make them reconsider using other eco-friendly ways of transportation such as bikes/walking, etc.
