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This is what life is like in the smoggiest place on Earth

By Padmaparna Ghosh

21 January 2016

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine. — Manoj Kumar/Hindustan Times via Getty Images

I spend most of my year waiting for January to arrive. It is the peak winter month in Delhi, bringing relief from the heat in the world’s second most populous urban area, home to 25 million people. It is a time when I usually reclaim the outdoors, organise picnics in the park, walk or run rather than drive and bask rather than hide.

But no more. In recent years Delhi has been judged twice as polluted as Beijing. The air is so toxic – often six to 10 times the internationally accepted upper level for the most harmful…

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