A few years ago, I was commuting by bike to Valletta and the air felt heavy and suffocating. Breathing is fundamental for life, and weaving through cars on my bicycle on a hot summer day, I realised that air pollution is a monster we cannot escape. Its tendrils wrap all around us and we can't do anything else but breathe in its fumes.
Soon enough, the seed that is now Pollution.mt was planted in my mind. I was curious to know more about the quality of the air I was breathing and started reading about air pollution in Malta. I was pleased to find out that air pollution data in Malta is publicly available, but while looking at this publicly available data from ERA, I felt it was difficult to get a quick understanding of the data and how it relates to global standards.
The main goal of Pollution.mt is education and awareness. Through this platform I aim to democratise air pollution data and make it possible for everyone to understand the air quality around them. Additionally, Pollution.mt also offers a platform for educating people about air pollution, the health impacts, what can one do to minimise air pollution and their exposure, and to promote ongoing progress or research in Malta about the topic. One thing which Pollution.mt offers is the comparison of available metrics with the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines for air pollution levels, providing visibility into how the current levels relate to global health standards.
Pollution.mt gets its data from the ERA air monitoring stations in Malta on an hourly basis. Thus, this is constrained by the number of air quality stations we have in Malta and the quality of the data that is generated by these stations. The proximity and duration to air pollution play a big role, however, it is difficult to measure and quantify air pollution in different scenarios, such as your exposure while sitting in traffic for an hour every day.
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About
Daniel Vella is a software engineer specialising in web development. He holds a Masters degree in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Malta. Before starting this project, Daniel spent 4 years volunteering in Rota, leading the NGO in his final year where he focused on increasing the NGOs reach and impact. Rota is a local eNGO dedicated to make active mobility safer and more accessible for everyone in Malta. Daniel also has a portfolio of photography and video work.