Climate Talk

Checking the AQI every morning is making me anxious. Is it useful?

Since last winter I open two air quality apps every morning before deciding if my son walks to school or I drop him. Some days they disagree by 50+ points.

From what I understand, the gap is because of different sensors (government monitors vs low-cost sensors), different averaging times (24-hour vs current hour), and different AQI scales (India's NAQI and the US EPA AQI are not the same scale).

The data is helpful but I think I've crossed into obsession. Does anyone have a sensible rule? Like 'only act above X on the government station'? I would like a simple rule so I can stop refreshing.