A thaw in scientific relations could help clean up the air in India and Pakistan

A toxic haze has descended on an area shared by about 500 million people in the northern parts of India and Pakistan. Its sources include industrial emissions, domestic fires, and diesel and gasoline emissions, which form the largest components of air pollution in many parts of the world. But in the winter in South Asia, the biggest source is the burning of crop residues. This is an annual event that significantly worsens atmospheric concentrations in the region of fine particulate matter—2.5 micrometers or less in diameter. These concentrations already exceed the safe limit recommended by the World Health Organization. Air pollution is a leading cause of child mortality and is devastating to the communities that have to endure it. It also contains climate-changing compounds.

Read the article: Bureaucrat incentives reduce crop burning and child mortality in South Asia

in nature This week, researchers show how the field of computational social science, combined with publicly available data, can help authorities in India and Pakistan begin to tackle a problem that affects both countries (G. Dipoppa and S. Gulzar nature 6341125–1131; 2024 year). The paper also highlights what could have been achieved if scientific links between the two countries had not been frozen due to the deterioration of relations between their governments. A delayed thaw can save lives and improve health in both countries.

The annual winter burning of crop waste in South Asia has roots in early science. The high-yielding crop varieties created by the Green Revolution technologies of the 1960s, combined with mechanization, allowed farmers in the nations’ agricultural centers to grow wheat and rice in the same fields in the same year. After the rice crop is harvested, farmers burn millions of tons of leftover materials, clearing the land for the wheat planting season. As a result, the haze reduces visibility to several meters, closes schools, disrupts road traffic and leads to flight cancellations.

Researchers are actively studying both the extent of contamination and prevention strategies. Gemma Dipoppa of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and Saad Gulzar of Princeton University in New Jersey examined government responses to fires in India and Pakistan over a ten-year period, from 2012 to 2022. The authors compared fire, air pollution and wind speed data with police and court records of actions taken against farmers. They also studied the effects of pollution on health. Burning crop waste is against the law in both countries, and violations can result in farmers being fined or even jailed. But many are ready to take such a risk. And the huge number of farmers who light fires at the same time makes it impossible for the authorities to deal with them all.

Actions by local governments can reduce air pollution in India and Pakistan

The authors found that officials in both countries are more likely to take action against farmers if wind blows pollution onto the homestead, and as a result, crop residue burning is reduced. They also found that this effect is larger in areas located near the border between the two countries—in other words, farmers in both countries are more likely to be penalized for burning crop residues if the wind blows in their direction. This raises questions that will be useful for further research. For example, to what extent can Indian and Pakistani authorities override each other’s efforts to control pollution near the border? And on days when one country spends resources fighting high levels of pollution within its own borders, does it receive more pollution from its neighbor?

Further research—both remote sensing and field research—will help researchers understand farmers’ perspectives and the factors behind government officials’ actions.

Efforts to answer these and other questions would encourage closer cooperation. However, links between researchers in India and Pakistan are minimal at present. Ties with non-governmental organizations (sometimes called two-way diplomacy), including scientific ties, are the weakest in ten years. Previously, academics could meet through the eight-nation South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) based in Kathmandu, but SAARC is defunct, mainly due to ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan. The Committee of Agricultural Scientists did not meet for five years. There are strong arguments for restoring such links.

So much could be gained if researchers from the two countries could communicate better, work together and learn from each other’s situations. Dipoppa and Gulzar’s work illustrates what can be achieved with open data and why science should not be concerned solely with national boundaries. When it comes to solving problems on a regional or global scale—and when people’s lives and health are at stake—politicians must prioritize cooperation.