Science + Environment

India Plans to Change the Weather to Fight Back Against Deadly Smog

India’s capital, New Delhi, is preparing a new weapon in the fight against deadly air pollution: cloud seeding. The experiment, which could take place as early as next week, would introduce chemicals like silver iodide into a cloudy sky to create rain and, it’s hoped, wash away the fine particulate matter hovering over one of the world’s largest cities.

The need is desperate. Delhi has already tried traffic restriction measures, multimillion-dollar air filtration towers, and the use of fleets o

A 15-year-old girl invented a solar ironing cart that's winning global respect

Vinisha Umashankar was returning to her home in southern India from school a few years ago when she saw a man throwing away burnt charcoal on the side of the street.

He was an ironing vendor who pressed people's clothes for a living – and his main appliance was an old-fashioned iron box, which he filled with hot charcoal that emitted a cloud of smoke. Umashankar counted at least six such vendors in her neighborhood in the temple town of Tiruvannamalai alone. She started thinking about how this

Residents Of Indian Capital Sound Alarms About Air Pollution Amid Diwali And Pandemic

Residents Of Indian Capital Sound Alarms About Air Pollution Amid Diwali And Pandemic

New Delhi has some of the dirtiest air in the world, and smog is complicating COVID-19 cases. The upcoming sparkler-filled holiday of Diwali is expected to make air quality even worse.

India's capital has some of the dirtiest air in the world. During the coronavirus lockdown this year, skies turned blue. But with the lockdown now lifted, the smog has returned, and it's complicating COVID cases. And as NPR's I
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