<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Dhaka's air quality is “unhealthy” this morning.</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">With an air quality index (AQI) score of 158 at 9:15 am, Dhaka ranked 9th in the list of cities worldwide with the worst air quality.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">India’s Delhi, Thailand’s Chiang Mai, and Pakistan’s Lahore occupied the first three spots on the list, with AQI scores of 306, 250 and 212, respectively.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">An AQI between 151 and 200 is considered “unhealthy” while between 201 and 300 is “very unhealthy”, and 301–400 is “hazardous”, posing severe health risks to residents.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Bangladesh, the AQI is based on five criteria pollutants -- Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and Ozone.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy in winter and improves during the monsoon.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Air pollution consistently ranks among the top risk factors for death and disability worldwide.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As per the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year, largely as a result of increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections. UNB</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>