Air quality risk (global, CAMS EAC4 2024)
This layer estimates ambient air-quality risk based on the concentrations of key pollutants that affect health and ecosystems.
Category: Physical risks · Enabling services · Air condition Coverage: Global (land only) Format: Raster grid (~5 km) Used in risk analysis: Yes — gates Enabling services
What it shows
This layer estimates ambient air-quality risk based on the concentrations of key pollutants that affect health and ecosystems. It reflects how polluted the air is across a given area, drawing on a recent full year of atmospheric data. Poor air quality matters for nature-related risk because it signals exposure to harmful contaminants and the regulatory and reputational pressures that often follow.
How it is built
The source is the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service global reanalysis, using monthly fields at roughly an 80 km grid, averaged over the year 2024 (the latest complete year available). Five pollutants of concern are used: fine particulates (PM2.5), coarse particulates (PM10), sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide. Ozone is excluded because its mainly high-altitude pattern is not relevant to ground-level exposure. Following the WWF method, values are summarised within hydrological catchment units (about 57,600 worldwide), taking the peak value per pollutant. Each pollutant is sorted into five classes by its global ranking, and the unit's final class is set near the upper end of its five pollutant classes. These are then mapped onto a ~5 km grid; oceans carry no value.
How to read it
Values run on a five-step ordinal scale: 1 Very low, 2 Low, 3 Moderate, 4 High, 5 Very high. Higher classes indicate poorer air quality and greater pollutant exposure. This is a screening signal rather than a precise local measurement.
Source
Inness, A. et al. (2019), The CAMS reanalysis of atmospheric composition, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 19, 3515–3556. Generated using Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information (2025). Catchment units after Lehner & Grill (2013), HydroSHEDS (CC-BY).
Comparison with the WWF Risk Filter Suite
This layer maps to WWF Biodiversity Risk Filter indicator S2_3 Air Quality and is visually close to it. WWF uses the same Copernicus CAMS source family; Darwin's data is from 2024, making it more recent, so Darwin is ahead here. A visible difference appears in tropical Africa.
Risk analysis
A site is flagged on a dimension by combining a proximity trigger (this layer) with an activity trigger (the entity's ENCORE pressure/service). Proximity only → Potentially material; proximity and the matching ENCORE pressure/service is material → Very material; neither → Not material.
| Dimension | ENCORE service / pressure | Proximity trigger (this layer) | Activity trigger (entity) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enabling services | Air Filtration | Layer value above 4 | “Air Filtration” pressure ≥ 4 |
Legend
Symbolised field: Air quality risk
| Class | Colour |
|---|---|
| Very low | #ffffcc |
| Low | #d9f0a3 |
| Moderate | #fdae61 |
| High | #f46d43 |
| Very high | #d73027 |
Generated from darwin/layers/layer-air-quality-global.toml and risk_indicator_pairs.toml (develop).