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Shrouded in Smog, Delhi Pollution Reading Is the Highest This Year

Thick smog engulfs the Kartavya Path near India Gate in New Delhi on November 18, 2024. (AFP)
Thick smog engulfs the Kartavya Path near India Gate in New Delhi on November 18, 2024. (AFP)
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Shrouded in Smog, Delhi Pollution Reading Is the Highest This Year

Thick smog engulfs the Kartavya Path near India Gate in New Delhi on November 18, 2024. (AFP)
Thick smog engulfs the Kartavya Path near India Gate in New Delhi on November 18, 2024. (AFP)

A thick blanket of toxic smog engulfed most parts of northern India on Monday and readings of air quality in the capital New Delhi hit their highest this year after dense fog overnight.

The smog, a toxic blend of smoke and fog, happens each year in winter as cold air traps dust, emissions, and smoke from illegal farm fires in some surrounding states.

Visibility dropped to 100 m (109 yards) in Delhi and Chandigarh, a city northwest of the capital, but authorities said flights and trains continued to operate with some delays.

India's pollution control authority said the national capital territory's 24-hour air quality index (AQI) reading was at 484, classified as "severe plus", the highest this year.

According to Swiss group IQAir's live rankings, New Delhi was the most polluted city in the world with the air quality at a "hazardous" 1,081 and the concentration of PM2.5 - particulate matter measuring 2.5 microns or less in diameter that can be carried into lungs, causing deadly diseases and cardiac issues - was 130.9 times the World Health Organisation's recommended levels.

Experts say the scores vary because of a difference in the scale countries adopt to convert pollutant concentrations into AQI, and so the same quantity of a specific pollutant may be translated as different AQI scores in different countries.

Delhi authorities directed all schools to move classes online and tightened restrictions on construction activities and vehicle movements, citing unfavourable meteorological conditions and low wind speed.

Farm fires - where stubble left after harvesting rice is burnt to clear fields - have contributed as much as 40% of the pollution in Delhi, SAFAR, a weather forecasting agency under the ministry of earth sciences has said.

Satellites detected 1,334 such events in six states on Sunday, the most in the last four days, according to India's Consortium for Research on Agroecosystem Monitoring and Modeling from Space.

Despite the polluted air, many residents continued their daily routines. Many buildings were barely visible, including Delhi's iconic India Gate.

"Morning walk usually feels good, but now the air is polluted and we're forced to wear a mask... There is a burning sensation in the eyes and slight difficulty in breathing," Akshay Pathak, a resident of the city told the ANI news agency, in which Reuters has a minority stake.

India's weather department has forecast "dense to very dense fog" for the northern states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan for Monday.

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'Critically Endangered' African Penguins Just Want Peace and Food

African penguins are now listed as critically endangered - AFP
African penguins are now listed as critically endangered - AFP
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'Critically Endangered' African Penguins Just Want Peace and Food

African penguins are now listed as critically endangered - AFP
African penguins are now listed as critically endangered - AFP

Mashudu Mashau says it takes about two minutes to catch a penguin, a task he does weekly to investigate sightings of injured or sickly seabirds.

"We don't rush... we go down, sometimes we crawl, so that we don't look threatening, and when we're close, we aim for the head, hold it and secure the penguin," the 41-year-old ranger told AFP.

Sometimes, when penguins waddle up from South Africa's coastline onto nearby streets and hide under cars, it is more of a struggle.

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"We had one today. They're not easy to catch because they go from one side to the other side (of the car), but we got it," said Mashau, who has dedicated the past eight years to working to protect the species.

Once caught and placed with care into a cardboard box, the small feathered animals are sent to a specialist hospital for treatment.

But conservationists and veterinarians are worried their efforts aren't sufficient to stop the decline of the African Penguin, listed as critically endangered last month by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

"No matter how much we do, if there isn't a healthy environment for them, our work is in vain," said veterinarian David Roberts, who works at the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) hospital.

Fewer than 10,000 breeding pairs are left globally, mainly in South Africa, down from 42,500 in 1991, and they could become extinct in the wild by 2035, the BirdLife NGO says.

- 'Starving' penguins -

The dwindling numbers are due to a combination of factors including a lack of food, climate change, disturbances, predators, disease, oil spills and more.

But the biggest threat is nutrition, says Allison Kock, a marine biologist with the South African National Parks.

"So many of the penguins are starving and are not getting enough food to breed successfully," she told AFP. When penguins do not eat enough, preferably sardines or anchovies, they tend to abandon breeding.

Authorities have imposed a commercial fishing ban around six penguin colonies for 10 years starting in January.

But SANCCOB and BirdLife say the no-fishing zones are not large enough to have a significant impact, and have sued the environment minister over the issue.

"Ideally we would want more fish in the ocean but we cannot control that. What we can ask for, is to limit direct competition for the remaining fish between the industrial fisheries and the penguins," SANCCOB research manager Katta Ludynia told AFP.

The South African Pelagic Fishing Industry Association says the impact of the fishing industry on penguin food sources is just a small fraction.

"There are clearly other factors that have significant negative impact on the population of the African Penguin," chairperson Mike Copeland said.

The environment ministry has proposed a discussion group "to resolve the complex issues", a spokesperson said. While a court hearing is scheduled for March 2025, the minister -- only in the post since July -- has called for an out-of-court settlement.

Apart from the no-fishing zones, many other initiatives are underway to save the African Penguin, including artificial nests and new colonies.

- Tourist traffic -

Being labelled "critically endangered" can be a double-edged sword.

While conservationists are hoping to get attention and funding, it also makes penguins even more attractive to tourists who sometimes disturb them.

"Penguins are very susceptible... and the level of disturbance, people with selfie sticks, it's becoming more and more of a challenge," Arne Purves, coastal conservation and compliance officer for Cape Town, told AFP.

"Especially as the penguins are now even more high-profile."

Tourism is a vital sector for South Africa and each year thousands of people visit the penguin colonies, bringing in millions of dollars in profit.

For those on the frontlines to save the flightless black and white birds, like Mashau, the spotlight has been a long time coming.

"In the last five years, it was the rhinos... we hope we'll get the same respect now and the same assistance," he said.

It is also about protecting the environment. "This is a species that is an indicator of a healthy ecosystem that humans are also part of... and the healthier the penguins, the more humans also benefit," he said.