Using Google Earth Engine, Daily Maverick layered satellite-derived pollution exposure data with indicators of vulnerability, including poverty, lack of healthcare access and proximity to emissions sources, to identify one of South Africa's most at-risk communities.
Using Google Earth Engine, Daily Maverick layered satellite-derived pollution exposure data with indicators of vulnerability, including poverty, lack of healthcare access and proximity to emissions sources, to identify one of South Africa's most at-risk communities.
South Africa's reliance on coal-fired power stations has long fuelled economic growth, but it also exacts a heavy toll on the environment and public health.
To uncover where pollution is most severe and which communities are bearing the brunt, we turned to geojournalism: combining environmental data with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools to visualise and analyse complex interactions on a map.
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Mapping the data
We layered six key datasets over satellite imagery of South Africa to see how pollution overlaps with population, schools, and healthcare access:
- Coal-fired power station locations - Eskom
- Active coal mine locations - Global Energy Monitor
- Annual particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution levels - Copernicus & Nasa
- Population density per ward - Copernicus
- School locations - Esri Geoportal Africa
- Clinics and hospital locations - Esri Geoportal Africa
Each layer was carefully prepared and integrated using GIS software to ensure alignment and accuracy.
Finding the pollution hotspots
Focusing on Mpumalanga, home to many coal plants, we performed a hotspot analysis to identify clusters...
