Tehran’s Poor Air Quality Persists

Tehran’s air quality index was 127 on Wednesday, leading to health warnings that sensitive groups, especially children, the elderly, pregnant women and people suffering from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, remain indoors. According to data available on Tehran Air Quality Control Company’s website, the metropolis’ AQI was only one point above Tuesday’s 126, which is curious because not only was Tuesday a public holiday, but major streets in central Tehran were closed to traffic as hundreds of thousands participated in the funeral of the late beloved president, Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who died of a heart attack on Sunday at 82. The company has predicted another polluted day for the sprawling capital on Thursday. Every year with the drop in temperature in winter, a phenomenon known as temperature inversion occurs during which cold air underpins warm air at higher altitude, leading to the entrapment of air pollutants in the city, which causes heavy smog.