Jim McMahon/Mapman®
The haze in this picture isn’t fog. It’s air pollution in New Delhi, India. That Asian city is the world’s most polluted capital, according to a recent study.
In fact, air pollution is a huge problem across India. The country is home to nearly 1.4 billion people, the second-largest population in the world. It has been developing rapidly in recent decades. As business there has boomed, pollution has increased, a result of
Smoke adds to the problem. It’s created by cities burning trash, farmers setting fire to leftover crops after a harvest, and millions of
Air pollution can cause serious health issues, including lung and heart disease. In 2017, 1.2 million Indians died from pollution-related illnesses, a recent study showed.
Last year, India announced a program to reduce air pollution in more than 100 cities. Some environmental experts say that’s a much-needed and encouraging step.