Lahore again on top with worst air quality in world

LAHORE: Punjab has been badly hit by smog with Lahore on the top of the world cities list having worst air quality, ARY News reported on Sunday.

Lahore remained the most polluted city of the world with 321 reading on the Air Quality Index, while New Delhi remained the second on the AQI with 206 points.

Mangolia’s capital city Ulan Bator remained third on the AQI with 205 reading.

According to the reports of international media and a study of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), burning of crop residue and garbage in northern Indian states causes dangerous hike in environmental pollution in the region.

AQI as high as 151-200 is considered unhealthy, while an AQI rating between 201 to 300 is more harmful and AQI over 300 is termed extremely hazardous.

According to experts, increase in air pollution used to be recorded in the winter. A change in the wind speed, wind direction and sliding minimum temperature increases air pollution.

The air becomes heavier in the winter as compared to summer, causing poisonous particles in the atmosphere to move downwards and making the atmosphere polluted. As a result, a layer of polluted particles, including large amounts of carbon and smoke, covers a city.

The smoke produced by burning crop remnants, factories and burning coal, garbage, oil or tyres enters the atmosphere and the effects of this appear at the onset of winter and remain till the season’s end, experts said.

Thus, air pollution reaches to extremely dangerous levels, severely compromising the air quality.