<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Dhaka's air quality was in the ‘moderate’ zone this morning. With an air quality index (AQI) score of 87 at 9:05 am, Dhaka ranked 15th in the list of cities worldwide with the worst air quality.</b></span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Iraq’s Baghdad, the United Arab Emirates’ Dubai and Kuwait’s Kuwait City occupied the first three spots on the list, with AQI scores of 187, 177 and 170, respectively.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">An AQI between 50 and 100 is considered ‘moderate’ with an acceptable air quality. However, there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people who are unusually sensitive to air pollution.</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. UNB</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>