(Obfuscation)
My Uncle Sam and Cousin Noah are responsible for measuring, recording, and sharing weather information. And they do a pretty good job of it. However, I object to the AQI's (Air Quality Index) name. I think it's confusing.
In AQI the "A" & "I" are OK. My problem is with "Q", or quality. The word is misleading. According to a reputable source, quality is "general excellence of standard or level." Thus quality is a positive attribute; more is better. So, on a quality scale from 0-500, 0 is the lowest quality and 500 is the highest.
Cousin Noah's algorithm computes AQI based on measurements, hourly and daily averages of airborne: carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and sulphur dioxide. The AQI scale is 0 to 500. Zero is the best and 500 the worst. AQI's scale has an inverse relationship between quality and numeric value; more is worse. At best the inverse, negative relationship is confusing.
Is this notion purposely confused? Perhaps pollution is an unpopular, old-fashioned, or unpleasant word. But, polluted air by any other name would smell no sweeter!
Shame on you, Cousin Noah!