Before you play

What This PM2.5 Figure Means

This game compares mean annual exposure to fine particulate air pollution.

  • PM2.5 refers to fine particles small enough to get deep into the lungs and bloodstream.
  • It is an exposure figure, not a death count, but it helps explain why the death counts land where they do.
  • Average national exposure can still hide brutal local differences inside a country.

Tiny particles end up doing very large politics.