This is just the start to the smog season in northern India and Pakistan'', as the monsoon will last for much of the upcoming winter'

 

WASHINGTON: 
 
 
Smog-filled cities in north India and Pakistan will continue to experience dangerous level of air quality over the next several months, a top American atmospheric organisation has said, warning that the cities could turn into dangerously unhealthy "snow globes".
 
 
 
"This is just the start to the smog season in northern India and Pakistan'', as the monsoon will last for much of the upcoming winter. That means there are plenty of more opportunities for cold, stagnant air to fill with pollution, turning cities into dangerously unhealthy snow globes," National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said in a statement on Wednesday.
 
 
 
NOAA released satellite pictures and explained the reasons behind such a polluting atmosphere in major parts of north India and Pakistan.
Widespread smog caused by the combustion of fuels, and the burning of crops and fires made it dangerous to be outside in cities in northern India and Pakistan, it said.
 
 
 
For air to get this polluted, in addition to needing a good amount of human help from the combustion of fuels and burning of crops and garbage, there needs to be specific atmospheric conditions that let the air remain still enough for pollution accumulate, it said.
 
 
 
"This stagnation occurs when there is an inversion layer in the atmosphere," NOAA said.
 
 
 
An inversion layer refers to instances where the air does not cool as one moves up in the atmosphere, it explained.
 
 
 
"Instead, warmer air sits on top of denser, colder air near the ground. Since that cold air has no place to go thanks to the warm lid placed atop it, it just sits there gathering pollution like a hazy snow-globe," NOAA said.