Air pollution in cities is rising at an alarming rate, new data from the World Health Organisation has revealed, particularly in emerging economies like India, where pollutants harm human health and hastening glacier melt.<\/p>\n
Indian cities have some of the highest concentrations of particulate pollution, with as many as 14 cities among the worst 30, Bloomberg reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n China, which has been plagued by air pollution, has improved its air quality<\/a> since 2011 and now has only five cities in the top 30.<\/p>\n Noxious smog is spreading across the Ganga and Indus river basins, with Peshawar in Pakistan and Dhaka in Bangladesh also amongst the worst cities. Larger soot particles from regions also combine and get deposited on the ice in the Himalayas, accelerating glacier melt<\/a>.<\/p>\n Fast growing cities in Saudi Arabia and Iran are also on the list of most-polluted urban areas with the highest levels of PM 2.5, tiny airborne particles, spewed out by cars factories and coal power stations that can lodge in the lungs or enter the bloodstream.<\/p>\n