PM2.5 is 10.7 µg/m³ here vs 16.2 back home.Berkeley Earth: 22 µg/m³ for 24 h ≈ 1 cigarette.12 h out ≈ 10.7/22 × 0.5 = 0.2 here; 16.2/22 × 0.5 = 0.4 at home.A health-impact equivalence, not literal smoking.See how we work it out →
▼ 5.5 µg/m³ less fine-particle pollution than Halifax right now
~1 h 20 min drive/Nova Scotia/Some particle pollution/ PM2.5 11.9 µg/m³
PM2.5 is 11.9 µg/m³ here vs 16.2 back home.Berkeley Earth: 22 µg/m³ for 24 h ≈ 1 cigarette.12 h out ≈ 11.9/22 × 0.5 = 0.3 here; 16.2/22 × 0.5 = 0.4 at home.A health-impact equivalence, not literal smoking.See how we work it out →
▼ 4.3 µg/m³ less fine-particle pollution than Halifax right now
PM2.5 is 17.3 µg/m³ here vs 16.2 back home.Berkeley Earth: 22 µg/m³ for 24 h ≈ 1 cigarette.12 h out ≈ 17.3/22 × 0.5 = 0.4 here; 16.2/22 × 0.5 = 0.4 at home.A health-impact equivalence, not literal smoking.See how we work it out →
Phew. Twelve hours out here is roughlyPM2.5 here is 16.2 µg/m³.Berkeley Earth: 22 µg/m³ for 24 h ≈ 1 cigarette.12 h outside ≈ 16.2/22 × 0.5 = 0.4 cigarettes.A health-impact equivalence, not literal smoking.See how we work it out →
That is the fine-particle pollution you'd breathe standing outside all day inHalifax right now, turned into a number your body already understands.
A health-impact equivalence, not literal smoking: Berkeley Earth puts a full day at 22 µg/m³ of PM2.5 at about one cigarette.How we work this out
Why live rankings?
Smoke plumes are patchy and move with changing winds, terrain and weather. Nearby lakefront, coastal and higher-elevation places can be much clearer than Halifax, but no direction is reliably cleaner. That is why this list is recalculated from live PM2.5 readings every hour instead of publishing a fixed escape route. If everything within three hours is smoky, the rankings will say so. Sometimes the honest answer is to stay inside with a filter running.