Severe pollution choking New Delhi

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We’re accustomed to images of near-apocalyptic pollution in Beijing. But the world’s worst air can be found some 4,000 kilometres to the west.

This isn’t a dust storm (image above) — it’s New Delhi, yesterday. Last year, the World Health Organization measured air quality levels in 1600 cities around the world, and India’s capital city had the dirtiest air. New Delhi had the highest concentration of particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometres, also called pm 2.5.

The city’s average pm 2.5 was a whopping 153, compared to 14 in New York and 56 in Beijing; the WHO’s safety threshold for humans is 10.