Displaying items by tag: pollution

India's capital Delhi is battling high pollution levels and extreme temperatures due to an unusual dust haze covering the city. Many people have breathing problems and say the city has become an unliveable place. The state government has banned all construction, and the fire brigade is sprinkling water across the city. People are advised to stay indoors as much as possible. Fourteen Indian cities are among the world's most polluted, according to World Health Organisation. The dust is a carrier of PM2.5 - tiny but deadly air particles, which can increase the likelihood of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Delhi's air pollution is triggering a health crisis. Many residents are saying, ‘Right to clean air should be a part of right to life as enshrined in the constitution’, and ‘It's high time to bring in electric vehicles’. Others assert that Delhi needs a forest buffer zone, which would not be very expensive to implement.

Theresa May has pledged to eradicate all avoidable plastic waste in the UK by 2042. But green groups say the proposals will have no legal force. For new proposals to work, they need to be put into law. Under the government's plan, supermarkets will be urged to introduce plastic-free aisles while taxes and charges on single-use items such as takeaway containers will be considered. The amount of single-use plastic wasted every year would fill the Royal Albert Hall a thousand times. Environmentalists agree that the government's plan to restore nature - not just safeguard nature - is genuinely radical. It covers managing land sustainably, reducing pollution and waste, and protecting and improving the global environment. See also the next article, on fracking.