Doha among top 20 polluted cities
The Qatari capital Doha has been placed among the top 20 cities with the highest pollution levels in the world, according to data released by World Health Organisation (WHO).
Indian cities occupied the top four places on the global list, and 13 out of the top 20 dirtiest cities.
India’s capital, New Delhi, has the worst air quality of any city in the world, according to the report.
WHO measured the average levels of harmful particles known as PM2.5s to try to gauge which urban areas had the most dangerous pollution levels. There were three Pakistani cities in the top 20, along with Doha and cities in Iran, Turkey and Bangladesh.
Cities with the lowest level of pollution were in Canada, the US, Finland, Iceland and Sweden.
Read more on CNN
I don't understand that there wasn't more of a public response to this report. You can really notice yourself easily that the air quality in Doha is really poor. And I am not talking about the dust and sand but industrial and car air pollution.
Have you ever noticed that new trucks from Renault, Mercedes, etc. blow out black smoke. They don't if registered in Europe which means that they are imported with a much lower emission standards.
It would be easy to fix this issue for a country as rich as Qatar but they are doing nothing about it. Shocking!
Obviously none of your who commented bothered to read the actual WHO report itself. The media version is meant for lazy people. The report clearly says that the instruments to measure PM2.5 are very sophisticated and expensive and not every country have them. In addition, many countries who have such instruments are under no obligation to share the data. Hence, Doha is one of the top 20 of those cities who have such air monitoring devices, and naive enough to share their data. Where Mexico city? Cairo? and Los Angeles?
Why no other GCC city,when atmospheric conditions and climate are similar in these cities?That means there are issues with Doha?
MM, Give her some more time to improve.
Where is China?? I believe their industrial city is the most populated with thousand of factories! helloow????
It's true
@MM: she didn't say bad girls :D :p lolz just kidding
More here where Galinda was told to talk with sense by the Sarandra ..................... http://www.qatarliving.com/socialising/posts/english-speaking-host-family
India should on number 1...qatar on 20...I dont agree it s that polluted...then no need for alfares
Look here ...........
http://www.qatarliving.com/life-qatar/posts/i-got-cheated-can-i-complain-police
Yesterday Galinda advised a man to pick bad girls from bars ! How dangerous is that for our society ! ..... ........................................................ Sat , 10.05.2014 , 08.07 hrs
Acchabaccha , You can more easily soften a stone than soften a stubborn fellow's closed mind if she stubbornly refuses to do so . ................................................. Sat , 10.05.2014 , 08.05 hrs
I can taste the stinking air in my compound every day, so am not surprised. As long as there is the 'need' for everyone to drive a big gas guzzling V8 - to keep on parity with the others and fuel cheaper than water then Doha will have a strong hold on a top 20 position in this list
Because it's the most polluted.
Also your argument that it's somehow unfair to single out cities with heavy industry and unfavourable weather conditions does not make any sense. This is not a "all things being equal" comparison, it's a report on the most polluted areas measured by air contamination. The WHOLE POINT is to consider relevant factors.
I just could not understand y-o-u-r "logic". How is it the entire focus on pollution is on this part of the world?
I was unaware that it rains less in New Dehli than in Doha, according to your logic. Or that New Dehli is a smaller city than Doha, according to your logic. Or that New Dehli is covered with snow and ice for much of the year, according to your logic.
I fail to understand how a reputed organization such as the WHO has made such a comparison and issued this report. Both geographically and climatically, it is just not possible to compare any Middle East or Asian city to any of the cities in the West. Canada, Finland, Iceland, the US, and Sweden remain covered with ice and snow for a major part of the year. Added to this are the rains they receive which cause the dust to stay settled down. Compared to the above countries, Doha is a desert country with hardly any rain. Most citizens of the above countries would hardly have the courage to venture out of their homes during the periods of sandstorms which Doha faces. Also, the above countries are larger area-wise and the population is spread over a wide area in several cities as compared to Doha where the major population is centered in just one city. As such, the report by the WHO singling out Doha as one of the twenty most polluted countries, leaves much to question on fairness of the experiment.
As for Asian countries, most of them are heavily populated compared to the western cities. Wherever there is a high concentration of population, there is bound to be pollution.