To do, or not to do, that is the question.

"The 2023 World Air Quality report by IQAir, a global air quality monitoring platform, found Delhi to be the polluted city on the planet with an annual PM 2.5 reading of 92.7 micrograms/cubic meter." PM 2.5 stands for 'particulate matter' with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or smaller. "These particles come in many sizes and shapes and can be made up of hundreds of different chemicals." Fine particles like PM 2.5 can get into our lungs, and even blood stream, and are the greatest danger to human health. epa.gov. Delhi traps pollution because it is surrounded by hills and mountains, the so-called 'valley effect'. About 35% of pollution comes from surrounding towns and cities, and 13% from the transport sector. In winter 32% of PM 2.5 comes from household cooking and heating using biomass, wrote Sayantan Bera. Efforts at reducing pollution should be extremely beneficial for everyone. Not so simple. "The 10 New Insights in Climate Science report of 2024-25 has highlighted that while air-particulate-matter reduction has significant public health benefits, it also reduces the net cooling effect that it exerts on the climate." Reducing air pollution will increase the effects of global warming. "So, as of today, we seem to be on track towards a 3 degree Celsius average-rise-in-global temperature world, which would be a disaster for the planet," wrote Leena Srivastava. "Since 1990, India has lost around 420 million hectares of forest land, which is alarming as this trend is supposed to continue due to the rising demands of the growing population and economic growth." "As per the climate transparency report, heat related incidents caused a 191 billion labor loss hours in 2022." Heat waves cost 252 lives in 2023 and, "India has suffered a loss of $159 billion, of 5.4% of GDP." ET. It's not just air pollution or chopping down our forests, "In a recent study, India has emerged as the world's top plastic polluter, releasing 9.3 million tonnes (Mt) of plastic annually. It now constitutes one-fifth of global plastic emissions, the study revealed in nature." TOI. "Climate change due to rising temperature and changing pattern of monsoon rainfall in India could cost the Indian economy 2.8% of its GDP and depress the living standards of nearly half of its population by 2050, RBI's Department of Economic and Policy Research (DEPR) says." "India may account for 34 million of the projected 80 million global job losses caused by heat-related stress." Forbes. That would be an absolute disaster. "Asia's fastest-growing economies are hiding a dirty secret: Their youngest workers are battling stubbornly high rates of unemployment." "Though India's youth unemployment has come down in recent years, it remains above the global average." Mint. In short, pollution is killing people, but reducing particulate matter will increase the heat effect of climate change, causing loss in GDP growth, which will increase unemployment, causing poverty and possible social disorder. Seems like a case of damned if you do and damned if you don't. No wonder politicians seem frozen. All over the world.