Air Quality - Delhi vs. Beijing

Is it more dangerous to breathe the air in Delhi or Beijing? We know that both cities are hazardous to your lungs, but residents of India’s capital have been rattled by a growing chorus of claims that they are more at risk than people living in Beijing, the global poster-child for air pollution. Douw Steyn, a Professor at University of British Columbia has obtained two-years-worth of hourly data from the monitoring station in Delhi’s RK Puram neighbourhood, and from the US embassy in Beijing. Each station measures the deadly microfine particles known as PM 2.5 in micrograms per cubic meter of air, which was crunched to produce what staticians call a QQ plot (for quantile vs. quantile).

You could leave it at that, but if you want to understand exactly what the chart means, and why it matters, read on. You can also read Professor Steyn’s explanation to HT here.

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Infographic - Comparing Air Pollution and Actions in Beijing and Delhi