dna edit: Message in the smog

Delhi’s biting cold — evident in the drastic slide in day temperatures during January — is not an outcome of nature’s whims. Neither is the early-morning thick blanket of fog reducing visibility to near-zero. It’s the effect of air pollution building up over decades, with emissions from industrial plants, vehicles and the burning of biomass as well as the dust from construction work deemed the prime causes behind the rapid deterioration of the atmosphere. Here are some bone-chilling statistics: The average maximum day temperatures in January, below the normal 20 degree Celsius this year, will vie for the coldest slot in this decade, and perhaps the third coldest since 1947. This is the fifth consecutive time the capital has experienced an increasingly downward trend in temperatures. In fact, all the coldest January months after 1947, when the maximum day temperatures for the month has dropped below 19 degrees, came between 1998 and 2014.
The link between coldest days and pollution has been reaffirmed by Gufran Beig, chief project scientist at System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research and RK Jenamani, director of IGI Airport Met office, independently.
During January, the air in the capital is laden with highly toxic suspended particulate matter, which forms a thick haze and blocks sunlight from reaching the ground. As a result days get progressively colder. Little wonder then that studies have found Delhi’s air to be more polluted than Beijing’s — the latter already has raised serious environmental concerns for being one of the most polluted cities in the world.
Mumbai, too, has been suffering the consequences of air pollution — the Celsius slide coinciding with rising pollution and attendant health problems. Last year around the same time, the Mumbai Pollution Control Board found that SPMs, in particular the deadly nitrogen oxide (Nox), had shot up to 286 micrograms per cubic metre, way above the normal levels. The threshold of 100 micrograms of SPM and 80 micrograms of Nox in a cubic metre of air has long been breached.
The fatal effects of air pollution, claiming more than two-and-a-half million lives each year, are being felt most strongly in India. It’s the fifth largest killer in India — targeting  especially children and the elderly who are vulnerable to respiratory and heart diseases — and the cause of 6.2 lakh premature deaths. The WHO in its study last year had revealed that the air we breathe is carcinogenic.
China, which has consistently drawn flak for its criminal callousness to environmental degradation, has finally woken up to the health hazards its people have been exposed to. To make amends, in 2014, the Chinese leadership under Xi Jinping will concentrate efforts in tackling pollution. China’s poor air quality has been triggered by reckless industrialisation, with the Communist party turning a blind eye to environmental concerns in its quest to emerge as the world’s manufacturing hub. India, too, is guilty of the same crime, but unlike China it has shown little resolve in cleaning up the air. What’s surprising and scary is the lack of public pressure in the democracy, forcing the government to take action. In India, the outrage on environmental issues is feeble, which gives big industries enough leeway to flout laws. It’s high time to ponder over the human cost of development, and prioritise our needs.