All of Pakistan is breathing air several times more polluted than the acceptable levels. Pollution from cars or burning coal creates PM2.5.

PM2.5 means particulate matter that is 2.5 micrometres or smaller in diameter — about 30 times thinner than a human hair. Because they’re so tiny, these particles stay suspended in the air and can be easily inhaled deep into the lungs, even entering the bloodstream.

The World Health Organisation recommends an annual average of no more than five µg/m³ for PM2.5. Even at its lowest level since 1998, Pakistan was over six times the safe levels. PM2.5 is among the most dangerous forms of air pollution, and it has steadily been increasing in Pakistan over the years.

Imagine living in Australia, for example, where your cousins may have emigrated. There, the guidelines for safe air quality are maintained. Keeping everything else the same, your Australian cousins would live about three years longer than you, because of the quality of air in Pakistan.

As in most things, children are the most vulnerable to air pollution because they breathe more air per unit of body weight, have less effective nasal filtration and are more likely to breathe through their mouths, as per the 2024 World Air Quality Report.

While air pollution is a silent killer, the recurrence of floods has amply underscored the need for urgent action. Yet each year brings more of the same.

Published in Dawn, Young World, September 22nd, 2025