<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Dhaka's air quality is in the 'unhealthy' zone this morning (June 18, 2023).</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">With an air quality index (AQI) score of 121 at 9 am, the capital of Bangladesh ranked eighth in the list of cities worldwide with the worst air quality.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Chile’s Santiago, Indonesia’s Jakarta, Pakistan’s Karachi and Lahore occupied the first four spots on the list, with AQI scores of 207, 163, 159 and 156, respectively.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When the AQI value for particle pollution is between 101 and 150, air quality is considered ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’, between 151 and 200 is ‘unhealthy’, between 201 and 300 is said to be 'very unhealthy', while a reading of 301+ is considered 'hazardous', posing serious 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 the winter and improves during the monsoon. UNB</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>