Transcript:
Trucks, power plants, and factories that burn fossil fuels emit pollution that’s harmful to breathe. And nearby neighborhoods bear the brunt of the burden.
Darren Riley learned this firsthand when he moved to a highly polluted area of southwest Detroit in his twenties and developed asthma a couple years later.
Riley: “As an adult, having a chronic illness … really made me look around, like, what in my environment is impacting this, and lo and behold, our ZIP code has one of the highest rates of asthma in the state of Michigan.”
Southwest Detroit is home to an oil refinery, industrial facilities, and heavy truck traffic.
Riley: “I truly have this fundamental belief that the five digits that we call a ZIP code should not be a determinant of your life expectancy.”
So to help others understand air quality problems in their communities, Riley created JustAir.
It’s a free online platform that shows air quality data from a range of sources, including government monitors and low-cost sensors placed by community groups.
The JustAir network includes data from more than a thousand sensors across the country, including more than a hundred in the Detroit area.
So the network can help people learn more about local air quality and access data they can use to advocate for solutions.
Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy / ChavoBart Digital Media
