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India, Pakistan blanketed in smog so thick, it's visible from space: See pictures
Pakistan, India and other countries in South Asia are shrouded in a layer of smog that is so thick, it's visible from space.
Satellite imagery from NASA Worldview shows most of northern and eastern Pakistan and parts of western India covered in a blanket of gray clouds. The smog has caused air quality to deteriorate to toxic levels in the major metropolitans of Lahore, Multan, Delhi, and Chandigarh, forcing authorities to shut down schools, parks, and public places in a bid to limit exposure and curb further pollution, Reuters reported.
More than 40,000 people have already been treated for respiratory ailments, according to Sky News, and hospitals in the region have reported a sharp spike in patients with labored breathing, coughing fits and reddened eyes.
India's capital city of Delhi had the worst air quality on Tuesday with the air quality index over 1,100, according to live rankings by Swiss group IQAir, which tracks global air quality. For context, American cities inundated with wildfire smoke in recent years have seen air quality indices of around 500, and any reading above 300 is considered hazardous to a person’s health, according to IQAir.
Lahore, the capital of Pakistan's Punjab province and home to 14 million people, had an air quality index of over 700 Tuesday. Earlier on Monday, Lahore's air quality was well above 1,200, while last week some areas of the city hit an unprecedented reading of 1,900, an excess of more than 120 times over recommended levels.
Air pollution claims nearly 7 million lives every year, according to the World Health Organization. Exposure to fine particles in polluted air can trigger strokes, heart disease, lung cancer and other respiratory diseases, and is particularly harsh on children, babies, and the elderly.
South Asia suffers from intense pollution at the start of every winter as cold air traps emissions, dust, and smoke from increased fire activity in India and Pakistan's Punjab region as farmers burn off excess straw after the rice harvest to quickly clean up fields before planting the winter wheat crops, according to NASA's Earth Observatory.
The smoke coupled with pollution in these densely populated cities causes air quality to drastically decline in the region, while weather patterns keep air bottled up in the Indo-Gangetic Plain, giving rise to the toxic smog.
Pictures: Smog in Pakistan
Pictures: Smog in India
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pictures show major cities in India, Pakistan covered in toxic smog
