API-Air Pollution Index

When we first moved here the view from our front porch to Stanley was beautiful and clear.  The kids would tell me about the API (air pollution index), but I neither "saw" it nor "felt" it.  If the API is over 100 the school is supposed to cancel outdoor activities, but sometimes it is at coach's/players discretion.  Grace's soccer practice was canceled a time or two in the fall.  PJ still had to run the mile before Christmas despite the API being over 100.  Over the past weekend our API was in the high 178.  Today it is hovering around 100.  To give you some comparison, today in LA the API is right around 60.  Beijing's API is about the same as LA today, however we have seen it get up over 200 and close to 300.

The cause for our poor air quality is mainland China.  The pollution blows in from manufacturing cities on the border.  One of those cities is Shenzhen.  Today the API in Shenzhen is 178.

You can definitely tell when it is a poor air quality day.  Everything is very hazy and the air feels a little thicker.  The pictures below are not of the same view, but they show you what it looks like on a good air quality day versus a bad air quality day.

 


Moving here I was a little concerned that the air quality would cause PJ to have breathing troubles considering his past history of asthma.  It does not seem to have affected him much at all.  Grace is the one who seems to be affected the most.  She complains of a sore throat a fair amount.  I can tell on the days when it is particularly bad that my throat has a definite scratch to it.  I haven't felt any difficulty with breathing, but if I hike on a day when it is bad I do seem to breathe a little heavier.

I have chosen to write about air quality today because I didn't realize the effect it has until we were in Kauai over Christmas.  We were all amazed by how much better we felt after 24 hours there.  Of course that could just be because we were in Hawaii:)