Smoke and Misdirection: The Flawed Air Quality Index in an Era of Wildfires The air quality index (AQI) has become a ubiquitous feature of modern weather reports, its color coded warnings and numerical scores claiming to guide us through the increasingly treacherous landscape of particulate pollution.
However, as wildfires rage across the country, exposing millions to hazardous levels of smoke and ozone, it's clear that our trusty AQI is not as reliable as we've been led to believe.
The index's limitations are well documented but often overlooked in the heat of the moment when a smoky haze descends upon our cities.