Bangladesh, Pakistan and India bottom in air quality rankings in 2023, data shows
Singapore Reuters Pakistan remained one of the world’s three smoggiest countries in 2023, as Bangladesh and India replaced Chad and Iran, with particulate matter about 15 times the level recommended by the World Health Organization, data published on Tuesday showed. Average concentrations of PM2.5 – small airborne particles that damage the lungs – reached 79.9 […]
“It stinks!”: Milan residents grapple with high pollution
Milan, Italy Reuters Pietro De Luca lives in Italy’s finance and fashion capital Milan but often thinks of moving to a cleaner city with his wife and three children to escape high pollution and the health risks it causes. “It stinks! I smell a constant stench of smog, I cough, I feel my throat burning,” […]
Indian capital gets a breather as rain brings respite from smog
New Delhi, IndiaReuters Overnight rain in New Delhi and its suburbs brought some relief to the Indian capital on Friday morning, where authorities were mulling seeding clouds to improve the toxic air gripping the city. The city, which was the most polluted in the world till Thursday, saw its air quality index improve to 127 […]
Sandstorms, dangerous pollution return to Beijing
Reuters Thick sandstorms will hit Beijing and several provinces through Wednesday, and Chinese forecasters have advised citizens of respiratory dangers and very low visibility while travelling, state media reported. The capital Beijing has seen regular air pollution and an unseasonal number of sandstorms over the past few weeks. A woman poses for pictures near the […]
New Delhi to consider curbing private vehicles to fight dangerous smog
New Delhi, IndiaReuters New Delhi will consider restricting private vehicles to driving on alternate days from next week if severe air pollution continues to plague India’s capital, its environment minister told Reuters on Thursday. As choking smog enveloped the city of 20 million people this month, its government initiated a clutch of measures such as […]
More kids in hospital, schools shut as smog smothers Delhi
New Delhi, IndiaReuters More children are in hospital with breathing problems as pollution levels remain dangerously high in New Delhi, doctors warned on Wednesday, and the government shut five power stations and extended school closures to try to contain the crisis. The city of 20 million was the world’s most polluted capital for the third […]
Postcards: Pakistan launches electric vehicle plan with cars in slow lane
RINA SAEED KHAN, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on Pakistan’s efforts to encourage electric vehicles…
Stop burning fields to cut smog and boost profits, scientists tell Indian farmers
Rome, ItalyThomson Reuters Foundation Every year, a choking smog descends on north-west India as the region’s farmers burn their fields following the rice harvest – a phenomenon that has helped make New Delhi one of the world’s most polluted cities. Now, scientists have come up with a method that would allow farmers to sow their […]
POSTCARDS: AS LAHORE CHOKES ON WINTER SMOG, PAKISTAN MOVES TO CUT AIR POLLUTION
RINA SAEED KHAN, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports from Pakistan…
Deadly air pollution shortens lives by nearly two years – researchers
Thomson Reuters Foundation Air pollution, caused largely by burning fossil fuels, is cutting global life expectancy by an average of 1.8 years per person, making it the world’s top killer, researchers said on Monday. The tiny particles ingested from polluted air shorten life more than first-hand cigarette smoke, which can reduce it by 1.6 years, […]