The threat of ‘poisonous’ air is looming across North India, this US report is scaring

Days with less visibility increased by 500 meters

The number of days with visibility below 500 meters during November has increased ninefold since 1980, the study found. There was a five-fold increase in such days in December-January, which also includes Delhi. Ritesh Gautam, senior researcher at the Environmental Defense Fund in the US, who led this study along with NASA researchers, said that aerosol pollution increases the stability of the lower troposphere. This enhances the naturally occurring temperature inversions. Gautam said that this amplification effect seems to be getting stronger decade after decade.

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90% increase in aerosol pollution

Researchers studied four decades of data to understand the interaction between pollution and the atmosphere in the Ganga plains. They found that aerosol pollution in November increased by nearly 90% between 2002 and 2019. This probably happened due to increasing incidents of stubble burning. Aerosol pollution also increased exceptionally by about 40% in December-January.
Those two decades also saw a similarly large amount of warming in the lower troposphere. This layer also showed an increase in stability, with the height of the planetary boundary layer declining since the 1980s. This layer acts like a dome confining pollution to the ground, so any increase in its stability or decrease in its height will increase or intensify haze conditions on the ground.

Many types of disasters will arise

SN Tripathi, senior scientist at IIT Kanpur, says that the stagnation does not allow air to go out. Another factor is the increase in relative humidity, probably due to increased irrigation. More moisture in the air means more fog or mist droplets can form. The study found a 20% increase in surface humidity since 1980. Gautam said all these factors are coming together to create “multiple disasters” for Delhi and other parts of North India. he/she said that you cannot control the weather, but you can control the amount of pollution that is combining with the weather to create this severe smog.