![]() ![]() WIRED reached out to the CPCB for comment but did not receive any response.Īnd while ozone monitoring infrastructure is robust in the capital region-Delhi and its five satellite cities have nearly 60 stations-more than 200 Indian cities don’t monitor ozone at all. “Within the city, there is a massive variation and if you average it out, it will always be below the standard,” he says. The CPCB also reports ozone levels after averaging values at all the monitoring stations in a city, which Somvanshi calls a “disaster” because ozone is a hyperlocal pollutant. “We don’t really know exactly how severe the problem gets,” says Somvanshi, comparing the situation to checking someone’s fever using a thermometer that can only go up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The CPCB caps ozone pollution measurement at 200 micrograms per cubic meter-above that, the measurement software just records a blank cell in the data sheet. Current policies are “insufficient in reducing crop loss to ozone,” its authors write.Īt present, Somvanshi says India is “not doing anything” about ozone, and that the way the country’s Central Pollution Control Board monitors the toxic gas is flawed. In fact, a 2021 paper shows that ozone affects the yield and seed quality of all major crops in India. The country is a major producer and aspires to be a top exporter-yet studies show it loses millions of tons of wheat and rice annually to ozone. India’s wheat crop is particularly vulnerable. Leaves then start yellowing and the plant is unable to photosynthesize. Ozone enters plants through small pores on their leaves, explains Agrawal, and then kills cells by oxidizing them. Ozone also threatens food security by causing plant yields to “reduce drastically,” says Madhoolika Agrawal, a professor in the department of botany at Banaras Hindu University. And for Arnold, how the country will evolve is concerning: India will have both a growing and aging population in the coming decades-meaning more people will be exposed to ozone, and in particular, more who are vulnerable.Īnd it’s not just human health that is damaged. While the gas is a problem in other countries, it is India’s poor air quality and increasingly common heat waves that makes ozone a particularly grave threat there. And according to the State of Global Air Report 2020, it is in India where the number of ozone deaths has increased the most over the past decade. Data on its impacts is patchy, but a 2022 study estimates that ozone killed more than 400,000 people worldwide in 2019, up 46 percent since 2000. While ozone is beneficial in the high atmosphere, where it absorbs ultraviolet radiation, down on Earth’s surface, concentrations of it can be deadly. “Even an hour of exposure can give you very poor health outcomes,” says Avikal Somvanshi, a researcher at the Center for Science and Environment in New Delhi. This makes ozone a particularly ugly modern threat-a problem that arises where pollution and climate change coincide. It’s a secondary pollutant that isn’t released from any source, forming naturally when oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic compounds-such as benzene, which is found in gasoline, or methane-react under high heat and sunlight. However, scientists are increasingly raising the alarm about surface ozone. But discussions about air pollution and policies to mitigate it mostly focus on particulate matter: PM2.5 and PM10-small particles or droplets that are only a few microns in diameter. Every winter, New Delhi gets shrouded in smog for days. India is no stranger to pollution, with many of its cities reporting some of the worst air quality in the world. It is a hot spot for a dangerous and overlooked air pollutant: ozone. ![]() Yet despite being one of the city’s most refined districts, this clean, green neighborhood is home to something sinister. Home to the country’s parliament, numerous embassies, and a lush, 90-acre Mughal-era park, it’s an architectural paradise, connected by tree-lined streets and roundabouts with mini-gardens. Lutyens’ Delhi is one of the most iconic neighborhoods of India’s capital. ![]()
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