TIME

How bad air came back

Air pollution is getting worse—and hurting us even more
Children play on a smoggy day in New Delhi, where thousands die early from air pollution yearly

ON MANY WINTER DAYS IN NEW DELHI, IF YOU look at the weather app on your phone, it will sum up the forecast in one word: smoke.

Step outside, and it becomes clear why. As the temperature drops and wind speeds fall, allowing pollutants from the city’s swarm of cars—more than 9 million and growing—and fumes from nearby factories to linger in the air, the Indian capital is enveloped by a thick smog. Depending on how bad the pollution is, the

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