A Diwali shrouded in cough: The health toll of living in Delhi

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Key Points

As Diwali nears, northern India is enveloped in a toxic haze, with Delhi's air quality already surpassing 10 times the WHO's safe limit...

This year, ahead of the festival, which will be celebrated on October 31, Delhi's air has already gone over 10 times the safe limit prescribed by the World Health Organisation (WHO)...

The burning of stubble in Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh release contributes significantly to air pollution with firecrackers just exacerbating the condition.. Stubble burning happens when the leftover crop is set on fire after harvesting grains like wheat and rice..

This practice releases gaseous pollutants such as carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), and methane (CH4) as well as particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) causing serious damage to human health and the environment.. . Stubble burning has been a common practice in places where farmers use combined method of harvesting..

According to a 2020 study published in Environmental Advances, burning of 63 million tonnes (Mt) of crop residue releases:. 3.4 million tonnes of carbon monoxide (CO) - a colourless gas that can be harmful to human health, 0.1 million tonnes of nitrogen oxides (NOx) - gases that contribute to smog and respiratory issues, 91 million tonnes of carbon dioxide - a major greenhouse gas driving climate change, 0.6 million tonnes of methane - a potent greenhouse gas with significant impact on global warming, and 1.2 million tonnes of particulate matter (PM) - tiny particles that can penetrate the lungs and cause respiratory and cardiovascular problems...

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