While the world has grown accustomed to images of near-apocalyptic pollution in Beijing, the world's worst air can be found some 2,400 miles to the west.

当整个地球都习惯于北京那近乎灾难的空气污染时，世界上空气最脏的地方却远在2400英里的西方。

In 2014, the World Health Organization measured air quality levels in 1,600 cities around the world, and the Indian capital city of New Delhi was found to have the highest concentration of particulate¹ matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers, also called PM2.5.

在2014年，世界卫生组织对世界上1600座城市的空气等级进行测量，印度首都新德里被测出了世界上最高的PM2.5浓度。

While the world has grown accustomed to images of near-apocalyptic pollution in Beijing, the world's worst air can be found some 2,400 miles to the west.

当整个地球都习惯于北京那近乎灾难的空气污染时，世界上空气最脏的地方却远在2400英里的西方。

In 2014, the World Health Organization measured air quality levels in 1,600 cities around the world, and the Indian capital city of New Delhi was found to have the highest concentration of particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers, also called PM2.5.

在2014年，世界卫生组织对世界上1600座城市的空气等级进行测量，印度首都新德里被测出了世界上最高的PM2.5浓度。

这座印度城市是“世界上空气最脏的城市”.png

The city's average PM2.5 level was a whopping 153, compared to 14 in New York and 56 in Beijing. The WH( •s safety threshold for humans is 10. PM2.5 particles are not visible, but they go deep into the lungs, a nd are more likely to cause chronic² health problems.

这座城市的PM2.5等级达到惊人的153 ,而纽约只有14，北京只有56。而世界卫生组织的人类安全阈值为10。PM2.5颗粒是肉眼不可见的，但它们能深入肺部，很容易造成慢性健康问题。

"Delhi is a very green city," said Kamal Meattle, a Delhi-based air pollution activist³. "But even the gr eenest areas of Delhi have extreme pollution levels."

“德里是一座绿色都市，”德里空气污染活动家卡马尔说，“但是，即使在德里最绿色的区域，污染也已经爆表。”

Meattle's TED⁴ talk on the topic has garnered⁵ more than 2 million views, but he complains that Delhi is still in denial mode.

卡马尔关于此课题的TED大会已经获得了超过200万关注，但是，他抱怨说，德里依然在否认这个事实。

"Although Delhiites have stopped drinking tap water, my question is: You drink about 2-3 liters of water per day but breathe 2,000 liters of air per day -- (when) you are concerned about the water, but you are not concerned about the air, there is a mismatch," Meattle said.

卡马尔说，"纵然德里已经停止饮用自来水，但我的问题是：你每天只需要喝2-3公升水，但却需要呼吸2000公升空气——（当）你关心水的质量时，你却没有关心空气，你遗漏了重点。"

According to analysts⁶, the large number of old vehicles on roads, burning of bio-mass, industry emissions⁷ and coal-powered power stations are mainly to blame for Delhi's pollution levels. There are roughly 8.5 million registered vehicles in the city, and 1,400 cars are being added to the streets each day.

根据分析师的分析，路上行驶的大量老旧机动车，大量生物燃料消耗，工厂排放和火电站是德里空气污染的主要原因。这座城市在册的机动车大约为850万辆，每天都会新增1400辆汽车。

Barun Agrawal of Breathe Easy, a Delhi-based air-filtration company, said that increased awareness⁸ has boosted sales.

德里的一家空气净化器公司Breathe Easy公司的巴伦凡·阿格拉沃尔说，人们逐渐增强的环境意识保证了产品销量。

"First two years of business, we had very few sales," Agrawal said. " Lately, we are struggling to meet p eople's needs."

“最早的两年，我们只卖出了很少的产品，”阿格拉沃尔说，“但近来，我们已经供不应求了。”

Agrawal said that many in the expatriate community have gotten the message, and are stocking up on air purifiers. But attitudes among Indians have been slower to change, despite a sharp rise in media coverage⁹.

阿格拉沃尔说，很多在印度的外籍人社区已经意识到了这个问题，开始储存空气净化器。但是，虽然媒体不断报道空气危机，印度本土人的看法却没有多少改变。

"The majority of Indians will still say: 'I want to make my children strong. I don't want to make them 'delicate darlings' by giving them air purifier and clean air for a few hours,' " he said.

"大多数印度人依然在说：‘我想让我的孩子们更强壮，我不想让他们在空气净化器的干净空气中生活，因为这会让他们的抵抗力下降。'"

Meattle, the activist, said the government needs to be more responsive.

社会活动家卡马尔说，政府应该更加负责。

"I think the first people to be convinced are the politicians, the bureaucrats¹⁰ and the judges ... people who really matter in the sense that they understand the problem is going to create a major health issue and major costs," he said.

"我认为首先需要说服政客，官僚和法官。。。他们要明白，空气污染将成为健康问题和经济损失的主因。"

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently launched a national Air Quality Index, or AQI, which will monitor pollution levels in major urban cities on a real-time basis. Data are currently available in 10 cities including Delhi.

总理纳伦德拉·莫迪最近建立了一个国内的空气质量标准，简称AQI，将实时监控主要城市的空气质量。现在，已经包括了德里在内的10座印度城市。

Last week, the National Green Tribunal, a government agency that deals with environmental disputes, attempted to ban diesel-powered vehicles older than 10 years from Delhi's streets.

上周，国家绿色法院，一个主要处理环境争端的政府部门，打算禁止德里所有寿命超过10年的柴油机动车上道。

Beyond Delhi, the news doesn't get better for the South Asian powerhouse: 13 out of the world's 20 most polluted cities are in India, and the WHO says outdoor air pollution is the country's fifth biggest killer.

除了德里，这则消息对整个印度来说也不是什么好事：全球20座空气最脏的城市中，有13座在印度，世界卫生组织说，空气污染已经成为这个国家的第五大杀手。