India celebrated the festival of lights on Thursday evening with ever-increasing noise levels and cities engulfed with pollution. Well into Friday morning, crackers were still being burst as smog enveloped some cities.
Indians were also on Twitter greeting each other and posting lots photos of themselves in traditional finery. That's obvious from Thursday's Twitter "heat map" ,which visualises the intensity of data at different geographical points.
Starting around noon on Thursday, air pollution levels began to spike. according to data from the country's two air-quality monitoring stations in Delhi and Pune. The two main pollutants that increased because of firecrackers were atmospheric particular matter smaller than 2.5 micrometres, or PM 2.5, and particulate matter smaller than 10 micrometres, or PM 10.
PM 2.5 can cause haziness in the air. The level rises when there is little or no wind. If present in excess, it can cause aggravated asthma, shortness of breath and even lung damage.
But it wasn't all bad news. Last week, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests released the first draft proposal on air quality index. At the launch of the index, the ministry also announced that air-quality monitoring systems will be installed in all the state capitals and in a further 46 cities that have more than a million people within the next five years. This kind of monitoring should help raise awareness about pollution levels and hopefully bring them down.
Indians were also on Twitter greeting each other and posting lots photos of themselves in traditional finery. That's obvious from Thursday's Twitter "heat map" ,which visualises the intensity of data at different geographical points.
Starting around noon on Thursday, air pollution levels began to spike. according to data from the country's two air-quality monitoring stations in Delhi and Pune. The two main pollutants that increased because of firecrackers were atmospheric particular matter smaller than 2.5 micrometres, or PM 2.5, and particulate matter smaller than 10 micrometres, or PM 10.
PM 2.5 can cause haziness in the air. The level rises when there is little or no wind. If present in excess, it can cause aggravated asthma, shortness of breath and even lung damage.
But it wasn't all bad news. Last week, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests released the first draft proposal on air quality index. At the launch of the index, the ministry also announced that air-quality monitoring systems will be installed in all the state capitals and in a further 46 cities that have more than a million people within the next five years. This kind of monitoring should help raise awareness about pollution levels and hopefully bring them down.
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