In Lahore, Pakistan, Smog Has Become a ‘Fifth Season’<br />Mr. Omar said that I realized that in order for air quality to become a national conversation in the way it had in China<br />and to raise awareness about hazards and solutions, we needed the numbers to be out there,<br />For years, Pakistani environmentalists have referred to November, when crop burning, higher emissions<br />and cold weather combine to blanket Lahore and the rest of Punjab Province with acrid smog, as a "fifth season." As in India, which Punjab borders, the problem seems to have been getting worse, and this month it has reached what many Pakistanis are calling a crisis point.<br />" Mr. Omar said. that No doubt smoke from crop burning in India is a big problem,<br />but let’s not pretend we don’t have our own part to play in this crisis,<br />India said that The sense of urgency has to be sustained.<br />" Mr. Alam said. that There is a lot of media interest in the story and public anger right now, so emergency measures are being taken,<br />but a long-term solution doesn’t seem to be a priority,<br />It said that levels of the dangerous particulates known as PM2.5, small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs<br />and enter the bloodstream, had reached 1,077 micrograms per cubic meter — more than 30 times what Pakistan’s government considers the safe limit.
