 "Hanoi trails only Delhi on the list of the world’s most polluted cities")
After Delhi’s increased AQI in headlines, Vietnam has grabbed the worldwide attention as Hanoi experiences the worst weather with dipping air quality leaving residents unable to breathe. The city has been blanketed in smog for more than a week making it world’s worst as recorded on Thursday.
The city has been ranked second with India’s capital New Delhi still holding the first rank in terms of worst AQI index and becoming the most polluted.
Vietnam recently witnessed dozens of deaths due to flooding and landslides. Many got displaced or left the state due to damaged livelihoods
According to the Swiss monitoring company, levels of PM2.5 pollutants – cancer-causing microparticles small enough to enter the bloodstream through the lungs – were vastly higher than the World Health Organization’s recommended daily exposure limit.
The atmospheric degradation has made it very difficult for the citizens causing discomfort and affecting daily life activities.
“I have experienced difficulty in breathing out on the streets these days,” resident Dang Thuy told AFP on Thursday, adding she had bought two new air purifiers for her apartment.
Respiratory diseases
The risk of respiratory diseases had increased making it difficult for the infants to breathe in the open fields.
Hanoi authorities, in an administrative order made public Thursday, urged people to limit time outdoors and said schools can close if the situation worsens.
Aerial view of the capital shows a highly polluted atmosphere with the threads of pollution lines visible.
“Authorities have been quite active on paper only. Nothing has worked yet and the terribly toxic air remains in our city,” said Thuy.
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According to the WHO, a number of serious health conditions, including strokes, heart disease and lung cancer, are linked to air pollution exposure.
Experts suggest that the cause of pollution can be the emissions from construction sites and the huge number of motorbikes and cars that criss-cross the capital every day.
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