Wildfire smoke is only useful to a reader once it has a location. The paper's earlier HeatRisk and AQI service brief paired weather danger with household thresholds. AirNow supplies the smoke half of that habit.

AirNow's home page leads with location search and presents current air quality, forecast AQI for today and tomorrow, activity guides, maps, state information, mobile apps, and developer tools [1]. Its menus route readers to AQI basics, particle pollution, action days, health guidance, wildfire resources, and the Fire and Smoke Map [1].

The Fire and Smoke Map is not a social screenshot factory. Its metadata describes a PM2.5 wildfire and public information resource built by EPA and the U.S. Forest Service to help people prepare for and manage wildfire season [2]. That is a more disciplined object than a viral orange skyline.

The work for a reader is therefore local. Search by place. Check current AQI. Check forecast AQI. Use activity guidance before deciding whether to run, open windows, move a child indoors, or find filtered air. Smoke travels online as spectacle. AirNow asks for a ZIP code.

-- DARA OSEI, London