Air Quality Basics

What SO2 is, how it affects your lungs, how it becomes PM2.5, and why India is debating scrubbers on coal power plants after the 2025 rule change.

WMO’s September 2026 bulletin says wildfire smoke and heat-driven ozone are undoing clean-air progress. Here’s what it means and how to protect yourself.

A plain-English look at how India’s air quality stations measure pollution, where low-cost sensors fit in, and why readings differ across a city.

Indonesia’s ISPU and India’s AQI use different tiers, so ‘Moderate’ and ‘Unhealthy’ don’t mean the same thing. Here’s how to translate haze readings between the two scales.

CAQM’s Statutory Direction No. 98 sets a uniform 50 mg/Nm³ particulate emission limit for Delhi-NCR industries, fully in force from October 1, 2026. Here’s who it covers and why it matters.

Farm fires are up about fivefold in Madhya Pradesh and have tripled in Rajasthan, while Punjab, Haryana and UP decline. Here’s what the Centre’s mission-mode push means for winter air.

Minnesota’s air quality alert on October 10 wasn’t about smoke. Dry soil and strong gusts lifted coarse PM10 dust. Here’s how it works and what to do.

Should you run, cycle or walk on a smoggy day? What the research says, an AQI-by-AQI exercise guide, and simple ways to keep moving safely through India’s pollution season.

PM2.5 particles slip past your nose and throat into your lungs and bloodstream. Here’s what they do, how India’s limits compare with WHO’s, and how to protect yourself.

Satellite data shows Madhya Pradesh logging 118 crop fires against Punjab’s 88 so far this season. Here’s what the numbers mean and how to read them.

What nitrogen dioxide is, where it comes from, how WHO and India’s limits differ, and simple ways to cut your exposure.

What nitrogen dioxide is, why it’s highest near busy roads, how WHO, India and EU limits compare, and simple ways to cut your NO2 exposure.

True HEPA, CADR and filter costs explained simply, plus what air purifiers can’t do, so you can pick the right one before smog season.

Your AQI can jump after sunset even when nothing changed. Here’s how temperature inversions, evening traffic and cooking stack up, and how to plan around it.

IMD says the 2026 southwest monsoon will begin withdrawing from Rajasthan around September 19 – two days late – with a 15% nationwide rainfall deficit.

Kuching hit AQI 399 and Sarawak declared an emergency as Indonesia’s 2026 fire season, worsened by a strong El Nino, sends hazardous haze across four countries.

AQI 399 in Malaysia and AQI 900+ in Indonesia can describe similar air. Here’s what AQI really measures, why countries disagree, and how to read it.

A new PNAS study finds pollution rose 24-33% after the US stopped its embassy air-monitoring program in 2025 – including at posts in New Delhi and Mumbai.

Your AQI app shows both PM2.5 and PM10. Here’s what actually separates them, why one matters more for your lungs, and how the official safety limits compare.

Indonesia’s haze crisis has deepened – ISPU hit 1,023, a volcano added ash to wildfire smoke, and illness cases more than doubled since Sept 1, 2026.