Clouds of filth envelop Asian cities: 'you can't escape'

This year has seen some of Asia’s worst urban smog episodes in nearly 20 years, as India’s air pollution soars above levels recorded in China.
Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters

But there are strong signs that countries and global bodies now understand understand that air pollution is a modern plague for developing countries, killing more people than in wars, braking economic development, and creating a dangerously unhealthy urban populations.

In a major study (pdf) of the economic costs of air pollution, the World Bank this year found that in 2013 China lost nearly 10% of its GDP, India 7.69% and Sri Lanka and Cambodia roughly 8% because of air pollution.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) more than one in 10 deaths a year across the world are now associated with air pollution, from both household and outdoor sources, and 85% of people worldwide are exposed to pollution that exceeds WHO air quality guidelines for fine particulate matter...
https://www.theguardian.com/global-deve ... ndia-china

The World Bank pdf on air pollution is here: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/ ... EDfile.pdf

Delhi's air pollution is now so bad it is literally off the chart
Dust storms come months before the start of city’s traditional ‘pollution season’
Fri 15 Jun 2018 14.39 BST

Smog more toxic than can be measured by monitoring devices has blanketed the Indian capital this week, months before the start of Delhi’s traditional “pollution season”.

A thick haze was visible across the city from Tuesday and some government pollution monitors have recorded concentrations of 999 – the highest they can measure – as dust storms kicked up in nearby Rajasthan state blanketed the region.

Though the billowing clouds of dust and sand were blamed for the immediate spike in pollution levels, the sight of dense smog engulfing Delhi months before winter has underscored a growing awareness that harmful air is a year-round problem for the city.

Air quality in Delhi usually begins to plummet in October when slower winds and cooler temperatures trap pollutants closer to the ground.

Authorities have ordered a halt to all construction in the capital and its satellite cities until the weekend to reduce pollution levels, and doctors have advised people to stay indoors as much as possible.

Meteorologists said the presence of a layer of dust across the city is also trapping heat, sending temperatures soaring in excess of 40C.

Concern about north India’s air quality crisis is usually most acute after the Hindu festival of Diwali in autumn, when hundreds of thousands of Indians release firecrackers that combine with existing pollutants to form a poisonous haze over the region that persists for months until temperatures cool. Public health experts said pollution levels on some days in November last year were the equivalent of smoking 50 cigarettes per day.

India, home to 14 of the world’s top 20 most polluted cities, has the highest rate of respiratory diseases of any country. A leading lung specialist, Arvind Kumar, says the cancer patients he sees Delhi are younger, more often female and more likely to be non smokers than those outside the city.

Children are the most vulnerable: a 2015 study concluded about half Delhi’s 4.4m schoolchildren had stunted lung development and would never completely recover.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/ ... e-measured