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Photos: Delhi’s Toxic Sky (20 photos)

Millions of people in Delhi, India, and neighboring states are struggling to cope with eye-watering smog that has settled on the region—creating some of the worst air quality in years. Government authorities have declared a public health emergency, closing schools, halting construction, and restricting cars to an “even-odd” system, based on their license plates, to try and halve the number of vehicles on the roads. The toxic stew filling the air comes from a combination of vehicular and industrial emissions and smoke from the seasonal burning of rice paddy stubble on farms in nearby states.

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This combination of images shows tourists visiting India Gate in New Delhi on a clear day, November 4, 2019, (left), and tourists visiting the same spot under heavy smog conditions the day before (right), on November 3, 2019. ( Sajjad Hussain / AFP / Getty)
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https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2019/11/photos-delhis-toxic-sky/601357/