Climate change-induced transboundary air pollution from India to Sri Lanka

Air quality in India is well above the WHO limits. Seasonal emissions of rural agriculture waste burning and continual emissions from urbanisation cause severe air pollution in the North and East mid regions of the subcontinent. Anthropogenic climate change has increased the frequency and intensity of cyclones in the Bay of Bengal; as a result, altered air currents bring thick air containing short-lived climate-forcing pollutants such as particulate matter (PM2.5), ground-level ozone, methane, black carbon, and sulphur aerosol to neighbouring countries such as Sri Lanka, causing transboundary air pollution. Supporting data were collected from known reliable sources on the internet to support the hypothesis that climate change-induced transboundary air pollution occurred between India and Sri Lanka. In early December of 2022, the Mandous cyclone caused smoggy weather in the city of Colombo. The air was malign to individuals with pulmonary diseases. A sudden temperature drop during the menace caused three human deaths and 1,660 cattle deaths and affected over 4,000 people and their livelihoods in the North and East regions of Sri Lanka. Anthropogenic air pollution is a keystone environmental problem, and the link between climate change-induced cyclones and the transboundary air pollution in Sri Lanka has been revealed with the support of gathered information. Thus, the study recommends, as fully agreed in the recent COP 28, that climate-hit countries, including Sri Lanka, should be provided “loss and damage” compensation.