In the book “Around the World in 80 days”, the protagonist Phileas Fogg of London, UK and his French valet Passepartout attempt to circumnavigate the world in 80 days on a £20,000 wager (roughly £2 million today).
Inspired by Phileas and Passepartout’s global travels, the Local Haze team is taking a worldwide tour highlighting 80 air quality monitors around the globe, checking out how citizen scientists and air quality enthusiasts are monitoring their local air quality. Our global tour of air quality monitoring launched with a first stop in London, UK, at Victoria Station – the same location where Phileas and Passepartout started their journey in 1872. Today’s stop #7 in our travels is Nairobi, Kenya.
Stop #7: Nairobi, Kenya
Stop #7 on our tour is the city of Nairobi, Kenya’s capital and largest city. As of 2024, Nairobi has a population of 5,541,000, a 4.06% increase from 2023. The name “Nairobi” is derived from the Maasai phrase “Enkare Nairobi,” which translates to ‘place of cool waters,’ a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city.
To learn more about the air quality in Nairobi, we are visiting an AQ monitor named “Site #44919” with data provided by Sensor.Community. On February 8, 2024, the Local Haze AQI reading for sensor “Site #44919” was 25. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality Index (AQI), this reading for air quality is considered “Good”.
The chart below explains how the Local Haze app reports on and displays air quality readings and the confidence ratings on the sensor readings, as related to the US EPA Air Quality Index.
To get the current AQI reading for the “Site #44919” sensor in Nairobi, download the Local Haze app, tap on the Sensors tab and search for “Site #44919″ or use the map feature as shown in the video below to navigate to Africa, zoom in to Kenya and then Nairobi, and tap on the map at the location labelled “Site #44919”.
Moving on to the next AQ sensor
To visit the next AQ sensor in our trip, we will depart Nairobi and continue our travels east – like Phileas Fogg – across the globe, visiting sensors until we return to our starting point in London.
Join us as we travel to the next AQ sensor by following Local Haze on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Use the hashtag #ATW80AQ to join in the conversation and share your thoughts. Find your local air quality for free by downloading the Local Haze app. Bon voyage!
About Local Haze
The Local Haze app is available for free download from the Apple App Store and monitors over 32,000 civic and low-cost air quality sensors over six continents.