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BBC OS Conversations: Air pollution

Factual

Air pollution

16/06/2023 GMT

BBC World Service - BBC OS Conversations, Air pollution

Families in Canada and New York share experiences of the smoke from wildfires in Canada

Families in Canada and New York share experiences of the smoke from wildfires in Canada. Plus, mothers from India, Pakistan, and United States discuss the effect of air pollution.

Hundreds of wildfires are burning across Canada, almost half are classed by officials as ‘out of control’. Their immediate impact is the destruction of homes and businesses, plants and wildlife. But the smoke from those fires is affecting air quality.

Maps tracking the spread of the smoke, have shown it covering large parts of Canada, as well as US cities such as Minneapolis and Chicago. There were also the pictures of New York with skies turned a hazy orange. 

We bring together families in Canada and New York who share their experiences of the smoke. “Outside my eyes start watering and my throat starts burning a little bit,” Karishma in Ontario tells us.

With more than half the World’s population living in cities, many of us are subjected to potentially dangerous levels of air pollution every day. Mothers, in the UK, India and the United States, join us to discuss the devastating effects of pollution on their children and their campaigns to improve air quality. Rosamund in London tells us about her daughter, Ella, who died aged nine from an acute asthma attack linked to air pollution. Leher in New Delhi shares the story of how a visit to the countryside improved her son’s health. 

In many other cities, major landmarks and tourist attractions can be obscured by smoke and smog. We speak to tour guides in Lahore, Pakistan, and Cairo, Egypt, coping with the problem as an occupational hazard, when even the pyramids cannot be seen.

A co-production between the BBC OS team and Boffin Media.

(Photo: A man stands in the Empty Sky 911 Memorial in Jersey City, shortly after sunrise as haze and smoke caused by wildfires in Canada hangs over the Manhattan skyline, 8 June, 2023. Credit: Mike Segar/Reuters)

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