Air Pollution In India Now Causes More Than A Million Deaths Every Year

It's hard not to see this situation as anything but sad. Of course you want countries like India and China become more prosperous and bring their people higher and higher standards of living. We all deserve nice things. It's only natural. And those countries have certainly been successful at expanding their economies. But rapid development comes at a cost, and it seems that the bill is coming due in one of the world's oldest and most beautiful societies. 

Somewhere under this thick blanket of smog is New Delhi, India, a sprawling city almost 10 million people call home. 

You might have a house there, but it's getting harder and harder to live there. Air pollution has rapidly taken over the skyline in New Delhi, as it has for many cities in the nation of 1.25 billion, now causing more than a million premature deaths every year.

We're more used to hearing about China's smoggy skies, but its air quality levels are at least steady – India's air pollution deaths have soared in recent years.

Between 1990 and 2015, India recorded a 50 percent increase in deaths due to the fine airborne particles that cause lung cancer, chronic bronchitis, and heart disease. China, meanwhile, has seen its deaths remain at a steady 1.1 million per year since 2005.  

India's economy has expanded greatly in the past 25 years, making it a nation hungry for ever-more food and energy – so it has been burning coal and torching land to grow more crops. 

In November 2016, New Delhi declared a health emergency over the thick blanket of smog in the city that raised the concentration of airborne particles into hazardous territory. Schools had to be closed and a coal-fired power plant shut down for a while to help clear the air. 

The worse problem for India is that a solution doesn't appear to be on the horizon.

Renewables like solar and wind power haven't matched the pace of the country's expansion, so coal will remain a primary source of energy for the foreseeable future. 

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