Latest Air quality News
New Delhi closes schools, bans construction as air pollution shoots up to worst level this season
NEW DELHI (AP) — Authorities in India’s capital shut schools, halted construction and banned non-essential trucks from entering the city on Monday after air pollution shot up to its worst level this season. Residents of New Delhi woke up to thick, toxic smog enveloping the city...
Park regulars in New Delhi's Lodhi Garden say toxic pollution levels won't force them out
NEW DELHI (AP) — For many in New Delhi, one of the world’s most polluted cities, Lodhi Garden is an escape in the heart of India’s capital. Park regulars say they won’t let rising pollution levels deter them — even if they have to tweak their routine because of the smog. ...
Pakistani province declares health emergency due to smog and locks down two cities
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A Pakistani province declared a health emergency Friday due to smog and imposed a shutdown in two major cities. Smog has choked Punjab for weeks, sickening nearly 2 million people and shrouding vast swathes of the province in a toxic haze. A...
AP PHOTOS: Thick smog shrouds Asian cities
NEW DELHI (AP) — Thick smog shrouded New Delhi and other cities around South and Southeast Asia as air pollution levels soared Thursday. Air pollution in the region worsens particularly in winter when the burning of crop residue in agricultural areas coincides with cooler...
Pakistan employs new measures to deal with nearly 70,000 people affected daily by hazardous smog
MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani authorities introduced mobile clinics and added more beds in hospitals to treat the nearly 70,000 patients received daily with respiratory-related diseases as hazardous smog continued to shroud the country's east, officials said Wednesday. Punjab,...
Record-high pollution sickens thousands in Pakistan's cultural capital of Lahore
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Record-high air pollution in Pakistan’s Punjab province prompted authorities to close additional schools and keep government employees at home Wednesday, as doctors reported an increase in people seeking treatment for smog-related ailments. Marriyum...
Pakistan shuts primary schools for a week in Lahore due to dangerous air quality
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Dangerously poor air quality on Monday forced Pakistani authorities in the cultural capital of Lahore to close primary schools for a week, government officials said, after the air-quality index hit a record high over the weekend. The measures in Lahore were...
With carbon capture boom, a wariness in historic Louisiana Black community over more pollution
ELKINSVILLE, La. (AP) — A dispute over a planned ammonia plant near a historic Black town in southeastern Louisiana ratcheted up a notch Friday with a challenge to the state's approval process. The battle over the plant is occurring despite the fact that part of the impetus to...
Toxic smog cloaks India's capital as Diwali firecrackers push air pollution to hazardous levels
NEW DELHI (AP) — A thick layer of toxic smog cloaked India’s capital on Friday as smoke from firecrackers used to celebrate Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, pushed air pollution to hazardous levels. New Delhi's air quality index plunged into the “severe” category,...
Use of smoke-emitting firecrackers renews air pollution debate in India's capital ahead of Diwali
NEW DELHI (AP) — As India gears up for Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, people are divided over whether they should celebrate by setting off firecrackers, which worsen the country’s chronic air pollution. Diwali, which will be celebrated Thursday, is marked by socializing...
