LAHORE: Light rain across Punjab lowered the temperature and cleared the smog in the provincial capital.
Lahore, Sadiqabad, Multan, Sheikhupura and surrounding regions received light rain on Monday late night which not only increased the cold but also cleared the smog.
The residents of the metropolitan city, Chakwal, Lodhran, Chicha Watni and other cities in Punjab have been facing difficulties due to the smog.
A constant rise in the emission of carbon dioxide, along with cross-border crop burning has thickened the smog layer in the provincial capital and other cities of Punjab, reducing the visibility and causing flight delays.
SMOG:
Smog is one of the several forms of air pollutants that cause harm to human functioning. It is normally a combination of several types of pollutants (nitrogen oxides, Sulphur oxides, aerosols, smoke or particulates, etc.) with fog. Industrial and vehicular emissions, and forest and crop burning are some of the common sources of these pollutants.
Formation of smog, however, is not dependent only on the presence or increase of these pollutants, but certain meteorological and weather conditions also help these pollutants suspend in the lower atmosphere because of which the pollutants form a dense visible layer of smog.