As winter sets in, a dense layer of toxic smog has descended over Delhi, driving the city’s air quality down to its worst level in eight years. Air pollution levels have deteriorated rapidly since the end of October, remaining hazardous every day since November 12. On November 18, the Air Quality Index (AQI) hit 494, plunging the city’s pollution levels into the “severe plus” category, the worst classification possible. Anything up to 50 is deemed “good”; beyond 200 is “poor.”
This smog, composed mainly of fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5, has engulfed what was already the most polluted city in the world, leaving residents struggling with burning eyes, itchy throats, persistent coughs, fever, and breathing difficulties. PM2.5 are fine particles that penetrate the lungs and bloodstream, increasing the risk of respiratory diseases and cardiovascular problems. Exposure in children has been linked to impaired lung development, reduced brain volume, and ADHD.
On November 18, the pollution-monitoring company IQAir recorded Delhi’s PM2.5 levels at more than 60 times the safety limit recommended by the World Health Organization. It’s a bad spike, but air quality shouldn’t be seen as just a winter problem, says Avinash Chanchal, Greenpeace South Asia’s deputy program director. Year round “we are observing a very high level of pollutants,” he says. “Two times, three times, four times, five times higher than the national ambient air quality standards.”
Stagnant weather conditions across the whole of northern India and Pakistan are largely responsible for conditions being so bad right now, trapping pollutants over the region. But pollution itself is also surging, thanks to farmers clearing their fields with fire at the end of the growing season, more fires being lit for heating and cooking, and smoke from fireworks, which have combined with Delhi’s year-round mix of industrial emissions and vehicle pollution.
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