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What is it?
Source: The New York Times
Mistakenly confused with the “fog”, we actually are under attack by an insanely lethal air pollution called “smog”, basically a mixture of smoke and fog. Mainly comprising of toxic gases such as sulfur dioxide, carbon mono oxide, and nitrogen oxide, smog is produced as a result of coal burning in larger amounts.
Why it Occurs?
Source: Samaa TV
The main and obvious reason for smog is, of course, air pollution. But what actually happens is, as we approached towards cold foggy season at this time of the year (the northeast monsoon season- ranging from October to December), the northeast monsoon trade dry cold wind from subtropical regions of Himalayas.
The dry cold wind is denser and stable than the hot air, thus due to this stability high air pressure forms over the northern plains of the region. This high air pressure works like a thick, unshakable lid and traps all the air pollutants inside. More pollution paves the way towards thickening of this blanket.
What Regions are Most Affected?
Source: AP News
India and Pakistan are the two of the most severely affected regions right now, and people are badly suffering from the harmful effects of smog. Considering the intensity of the climatic situation, the whole routine has been disrupted. Stating the least, school timings have been changed.
Here, in the following NASA Worldview satellite image taken on November 8, 2017; the red pointed area shows the intense presence of air pollution in all over the region of India and Pakistan, particularly taking the skies of north-eastern regions of Pakistan and India in control. Wading out from Faisalabad, thickening Lahore, and channeling towards New Delhi and more, the disease-causing smog has taken over this region with all its might and certainly has raised some serious questions about our present environmental measures.
We need to make quick fact check about our environmental issues, what factors are causing pollutants in the air, where we need to change our lifestyle, and all this is must be done now. Use Every medium to raise voice, spread knowledge about the issue, and ensure safety measures.
We all must keep our natural environment safe, thus to live and breathe in a pollutant-free environment. And somehow, we all pitching in to make this situation worse, by not speaking and not taking required measures.
- The most obvious cause of smog is lack of greenery. There aren’t many trees, and the ones present are being cut quickly.
- Another cause of smog is the burning of stubble in massive quantity after the harvesting season ends.
- And of course, highly injurious and full of deadly chemicals, the deadly sickening smoke coming out of the factories is an obvious cause of air pollution.
It sure is an alarming situation and isn’t going to handle easily. But, if we all do our part in protecting our environment, this situation can certainly be controlled.
