Breathing India's Air
The concentration of fine particulate pollution in Delhi, India is 10.7 times higher than WHO annual air quality guidelines.
Every autumn there is a dramatic increase in air pollution in India, especially in Delhi, where decreasing winds and falling temperatures act as a trap for pollutants. It’s also the time of year when farmers perform their annual burn, removing excess paddy straw in order to clear land for the next crop. The resulting smoke spreads across the country, and combines with other hazardous pollutants, largely generated in cities. In early November of this year, that combination created a mass of smoke pollution thick enough that it could be seen in NASA satellite imagery, and led to some primary schools closing until pollution levels were safer.
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