New Yorkers are getting a taste of what it’s like to live in the pollution of Delhi, Doha, and Shanghai

New Yorkers are getting a taste of what it’s like to live in the pollution of Delhi, Doha, and Shanghai

As a former New York City resident, I'm always curious about what's going on there. This week I didn't expect my texts to be about air quality. Coworkers, friends, and family members in various locales up and down the East Coast texted me about the terrible smoke blanketing their neighborhoods, with a cousin saying he'd had some trouble breathing. Another family member said Manhattan looked apocalyptic. For the past few days, New York City's air has appeared dirtier than the bottom of a subway track. The foul air from massive Canadian wildfires is expected to linger through at least Saturday. As shocked as New Yorkers — and people in other big cities from Detroit to Washington, DC — might be to barely be able to make out their skylines, this is nothing new for many people who live in other parts of the world. Lahore, Pakistan; Hotan, China; and Bhiwadi, India, had the worst air quality in the world in 2022, according to . My colleague Spriha Srivastava wrote that New York's . Indeed, New York City has found itself atop the rankings — and above all of the perennial offenders — for having the worst air quality and being