這座印度城市是"世界上空氣最髒的城市"

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.

當整個地球都習慣於北京那近乎災難的空氣污染時，世界上空氣最髒的地方卻遠在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，世界衛生組織對世界上1600座城市的空氣等級進行測量，印度首都新德里被測出了世界上最高的PM2.5濃度。

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 chronic health problems.

這座城市的PM2.5等級達到驚人的153 ,而紐約只有14，北京只有56。而世界衛生組織的人類安全閾值爲10。PM2.5顆粒是肉眼不可見的，但它們能深入肺部，很容易造成慢性健康問題。

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

“德里是一座綠色都市，”德里空氣污染活動家卡馬爾說，“但是，即使在德里最綠色的區域，污染也已經爆表。”

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

卡馬爾關於此課題的TED大會已經獲得了超過200萬關注，但是，他抱怨說，德里依然在否認這個事實。

"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.

卡馬爾說，"縱然德里已經停止飲用自來水，但我的問題是：你每天只需要喝2-3公升水，但卻需要呼吸2000公升空氣——（當）你關心水的質量時，你卻沒有關心空氣，你遺漏了重點。"

According to analysts, the large number of old vehicles on roads, burning of bio-mass, industry emissions 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.

根據分析師的分析，路上行駛的大量老舊機動車，大量生物燃料消耗，工廠排放和火電站是德里空氣污染的主要原因。這座城市在冊的機動車大約爲850萬輛，每天都會新增1400輛汽車。

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

德里的一家空氣淨化器公司Breathe Easy公司的巴倫凡·阿格拉沃爾說，人們逐漸增強的環境意識保證了產品銷量。

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

“最早的兩年，我們只賣出了很少的產品，”阿格拉沃爾說，“但近來，我們已經供不應求了。”

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 coverage.

阿格拉沃爾說，很多在印度的外籍人社區已經意識到了這個問題，開始儲存空氣淨化器。但是，雖然媒體不斷報道空氣危機，印度本土人的看法卻沒有多少改變。

"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.

"大多數印度人依然在說：‘我想讓我的孩子們更強壯，我不想讓他們在空氣淨化器的乾淨空氣中生活，因爲這會讓他們的抵抗力下降。'"

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

社會活動家卡馬爾說，政府應該更加負責。

"I think the first people to be convinced are the politicians, the bureaucrats 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.

"我認爲首先需要說服政客，官僚和法官。。。他們要明白，空氣污染將成爲健康問題和經濟損失的主因。"

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.

總理納倫德拉·莫迪最近建立了一個國內的空氣質量標準，簡稱AQI，將實時監控主要城市的空氣質量。現在，已經包括了德里在內的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.

上週，國家綠色法院，一個主要處理環境爭端的政府部門，打算禁止德里所有壽命超過10年的柴油機動車上道。

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，這則消息對整個印度來說也不是什麼好事：全球20座空氣最髒的城市中，有13座在印度，世界衛生組織說，空氣污染已經成爲這個國家的第五大殺手。