In Major Pakistani City, Smog Is 'Apocalypse' Level

Pakistan's second-largest city has closed schools for the week, not that students will be able to go outside. The air pollution in Lahore is now second-worst in the world only to New Delhi, India, according to the Swiss outfit IQAir, reports Reuters. Consider that an Air Quality Index above 301 is considered hazardous to health and that at one point on Sunday, Lahore's moved north of 1,000, reports the New York Times. The city's concentration of the pollutant PM2.5 is nearly 30 times higher than WHO safety guidelines.

The levels are "outside the range of classification," says Ahmad Rafay Alam of the government's Pakistan Climate Change Council. "It's an apocalypse." In addition to the school closures, half of the city's office employees must work from home under what's called a "green lockdown," per the AP. Pakistan is pointing the finger at neighboring India for much of the problem. What's more, smog tends to worsen in the fall as cooler temperatures trap pollution closer to the ground, per Reuters. Farmers in both countries also burn crops this time of year, adding to the mix. (More air pollution stories.)