Indian Capital Declares Emergency as Toxic Smog Thickens By the Hour (reuters.com)

New Delhi, the Indian capital declared a pollution emergency on Thursday as toxic smog hung over the city for a third day and air quality worsened by the hour. From a report: Illegal crop burning in the farm states surrounding New Delhi, vehicle exhaust emissions in a city with limited public transport and swirling construction dust have caused the crisis, which arises every year. The problem has been compounded this year by still conditions, the weather office said. A U.S. embassy measure of tiny particulate matter PM 2.5 showed a reading of 608 at 10 a.m. when the safe limit is 25. An hour before it was 591.

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Re:to put this into better perspective

[Ranbot]

And little more perspective... This incident in India is similar to the 1948 Donora Smog event in Donora, PA, where steel factory air pollution and an unusual weather event created a smog that over the town that sickened thousands and killed 20 people. It was one of the key events that triggered the clean air movement in the US and eventually led to the Clean Air Act. https://www.sites.google.com/s...