People are holding their breath just because the smog is back with a vengeance to Lahore and the plains of Punjab. Marking its seventh consecutive year, the thick black fog is hanging over the cities once again. Lahore has yet again become one of the most polluted cities in terms of air quality. At the time of writing, Lahore stood first in Air Visual’s rankings for worst air quality with an Air Quality Index (AQI) of over 250 - still one of the better days. However, smog is not specific to Pakistan. It has become a phenomenon that travels from Northwestern Pakistan all the way to Bangladesh through India.
Smog season - a regular now - peaks between October to January. 7 years now could have helped authorities prepare means to address this menace. The irony however is that it has been tackled only intermittently and only on an ad hoc basis.
Poor air quality branches out into the larger climate crisis. The situation is already precarious as the world faces an imminent climate catastrophe. Global climate change is a reality, and developing countries including Pakistan face a much greater load of global greenhouse emissions with no system and means to deal with it. In recently released data by WHO at its data portal, 7 million deaths occur each year from exposure to ambient and household air pollution, and 91 percent of the world’s population live in places where air pollution levels exceed WHO guideline limits.
Climate change and air pollution go hand in hand, but unlike greenhouse gas emissions, ambient air pollution is produced mostly from domestic activity. And so unlike little to no control by the local authorities, smog and air pollution is something that can be controlled and dealt with. This was recently witnessed when the country experienced relatively better air quality in the 2020 winters amid COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns.
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