A quick demonstration of using open data to populate a simple map. This uses several open resources:

• Open Street Map tiles
• An open API from Open AQ
• Plotly library for javascript

If you want to give this a try yourself, you can get the code from this CodePen.
You can also look at this quick beginner's tutorial on how to use an API.

The API call to fetch this data is https://api.openaq.org/v1/measurements?country=GB&.parameter=pm25

This collects the latest measurements of PM2.5 - particles so small they're invisible to the naked eye - which can be very harmful to human health. They're generated by fossil fuel combustion, amongst other things, and if you look at major cities during rush hour then you'll see the larger marker indicating higher levels of particles.

Lucy works in education, open data and civic tech in the South West of England (and anywhere else she's needed).

Currently available for project work.

"People don't want data; they want answers."