1. Chart data
  2. The world has passed "peak air pollution"
Our World in DataLine chart · 48 points · Our World in Data

The world has passed "peak air pollution"

The numbers behind a chart Our World in Data published, redrawn natively. Check the original, study the data, then make your own.

Estimated from the image 59%All chart data
Chart by Our World in Data. Source: x.com

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A simplified redraw: it shows the numbers in our own look, not the look of the original. One accent marks what the chart is about. Values marked with ~ in the table are estimates.

The numbers

First 10 of 48 points are free
GroupSeriesxValue (t)SourceConf.
1750Sulphur dioxide (SO2)1750~0Estimate0.80
1850Sulphur dioxide (SO2)1850~3.5Estimate0.65
1900Sulphur dioxide (SO2)1900~10Estimate0.80
1950Sulphur dioxide (SO2)1950~50Estimate0.30
1975Sulphur dioxide (SO2)1975~110Estimate0.30
1990Sulphur dioxide (SO2)1990~100Estimate0.30
2022Sulphur dioxide (SO2)2022~72.5Estimate0.65
1750Nitrogen oxide (NOx)1750~0Estimate0.80
1850Nitrogen oxide (NOx)1850~2Estimate0.80
1900Nitrogen oxide (NOx)1900~5Estimate0.80

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1950Nitrogen oxide (NOx)1950~22.5Estimate0.65
1975Nitrogen oxide (NOx)1975~80Estimate0.30
1990Nitrogen oxide (NOx)1990~100Estimate0.30
2022Nitrogen oxide (NOx)2022~80Estimate0.80
1750Carbon monoxide (CO)1750~50Estimate0.80
1850Carbon monoxide (CO)1850~100Estimate0.80
1900Carbon monoxide (CO)1900~150Estimate0.80
1950Carbon monoxide (CO)1950~300Estimate0.80
1975Carbon monoxide (CO)1975~550Estimate0.30
1990Carbon monoxide (CO)1990~500Estimate0.30
2022Carbon monoxide (CO)2022~400Estimate0.80
1750Black carbon (BC)1750~0.2Estimate0.80
1850Black carbon (BC)1850~0.5Estimate0.80
1900Black carbon (BC)1900~1.25Estimate0.80
1950Black carbon (BC)1950~2.25Estimate0.80
1975Black carbon (BC)1975~5Estimate0.30
1990Black carbon (BC)1990~6Estimate0.30
2022Black carbon (BC)2022~4.5Estimate0.80
1750Organic carbon (OC)1750~1.5Estimate0.65
1850Organic carbon (OC)1850~2.5Estimate0.80
1900Organic carbon (OC)1900~3.5Estimate0.80
1950Organic carbon (OC)1950~5.5Estimate0.80
1975Organic carbon (OC)1975~10Estimate0.30
1990Organic carbon (OC)1990~12Estimate0.30
2022Organic carbon (OC)2022~12.5Estimate0.80
1750Ammonia (NH3)1750~0Estimate0.80
1850Ammonia (NH3)1850~2Estimate0.80
1900Ammonia (NH3)1900~5Estimate0.80
1950Ammonia (NH3)1950~15Estimate0.80
1975Ammonia (NH3)1975~40Estimate0.30
1990Ammonia (NH3)1990~50Estimate0.30
2022Ammonia (NH3)2022~60Estimate0.80
1970Sulphur dioxide (SO2)1970~120Estimate0.30
1970Nitrogen oxide (NOx)1970~90Estimate0.30
1970Carbon monoxide (CO)1970~550Estimate0.30
1970Black carbon (BC)1970~5.5Estimate0.30
1970Organic carbon (OC)1970~8Estimate0.30
1970Ammonia (NH3)1970~35Estimate0.30
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PathReturnsPlan
GET/api/v1/charts/7baa450e1ebaTitle, publisher, date, form, point count; with a Max key, the data linkOpen
GET/api/v1/charts/7baa450e1eba/dataEvery point with its provenance and confidence, plus the redraw spec. Add ?format=csv for CSVMax
GET/api/v1/charts/7baa450e1eba/render?view=1The draw-only view this page usesOpen
POST/mcpTool get_chart_data with this id, for Claude, Cursor and other agentsMax
curlMax
curl -s https://viral-chart.com/api/v1/charts/7baa450e1eba/data \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $VIRALCHART_KEY"
Claude CodeMax
claude mcp add --transport http viralchart https://viral-chart.com/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $VIRALCHART_KEY"

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Questions people ask

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They are estimated from the image by two independent passes, with confidence 0.59 on a 0 to 1 scale. Printed numbers read well; values read off an axis can be a few percent off.

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The numbers describe a chart that Our World in Data published. The image, layout and styling belong to them. Use the numbers with a credit to the publisher, and make your picture from your own data.

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The JSON, CSV and agent skill file are under the email gate on this page. In this prototype they are static files at /api/charts/7baa450e1eba.json and /api/charts/7baa450e1eba.skill.md.