In November 2025, Lahore, the second-largest city in Pakistan, registered a "hazardous" air quality index of 509, according to IQAir, a global air quality monitoring organisation. The number speaks for itself. Eyes sting, throats burn and headlights blur into halos. In winter, the city feels as though it has slipped beneath a toxic sea.
Authors
- Gulnaz Anjum
Assistant Professor of Climate Psychology, Centre for Social Issues Research, Department of Psychology, University of Limerick
- Mudassar Aziz
Researcher, Psychology, University of Oslo
Across Pakistan's major cities, the shift into colder months no longer brings relief from heat or flooding. Winter has become smog season.
For weeks at a time, the sky turns grey-brown and the air tastes metallic before noon, a result of fine particles and acidic gases accumulating in the air and irritating the mouth and throat. These are not abstract environmental problems but daily, sensory realities. Smog now shapes routines, moods and the way people move through their day.
Lahore's smog crisis is not new, but the numbers are becoming more alarming. The World Health Organization recommends that annual average levels of fine particulate matter should remain below five micrograms per cubic metre. According to a recent IQAir report, Lahore's 2024 average was 102.
The burden of disease caused by air pollution is now estimated to be on a par with unhealthy diets and tobacco smoking. Global assessments place Pakistan among the countries with the highest mortality linked to air pollution , with particle concentrations far above recommended limits .
For residents of Pakistan's cities, these statistics translate into physical and emotional strain. People describe waking with headaches after nights of coughing. Parents say the school run feels like walking through exhaust fumes.
Outdoor workers such as drivers, street vendors and construction labourers often report tasting metal in the air by late afternoon. Emerging research links smog episodes with spikes in respiratory illness , cardiovascular stress and hospital visits, especially among children and people with existing health conditions.
Winter in Lahore is sometimes described as "a lockdown without staying at home". Public health advice on very polluted days often includes avoiding outdoor exercise, keeping windows closed and wearing masks when outside. Air quality apps now send real-time alerts to hundreds of thousands of users across the city.
But staying indoors is a luxury for many. Street vendors cannot sell food from their kitchens. Transport workers cannot drive rickshaws or buses from behind sealed windows. Families living in cramped, poorly ventilated housing do not breathe clean indoor air either; they breathe a mixture of outdoor pollution and indoor smoke from cooking or heating.
The causes of this toxic winter mix are well documented . Older diesel trucks and buses emit large quantities of fine particles and nitrogen dioxide. Industrial zones and poorly regulated brick kilns burn low-quality fuel. Construction activity increases the amount of dust in the air. Seasonal burning of crop residues left behind after harvesting, such as stalks and straw, in Punjab and neighbouring regions worsens pollution even further.
Cold winter temperatures trap pollutants close to the ground. With little wind or rain to disperse them, a dense brown haze settles over Lahore and other urban areas. Recent analyses show that Lahore's emissions remain high throughout the year, but peak during winter when weather conditions are least favourable.
Smog affects more than the lungs. It influences how people feel, behave and cope with daily life. Residents frequently report a sense of heaviness or irritability on high pollution days, difficulty concentrating or a "claustrophobic" feeling when visibility drops and the city seems to close in. Studies show that air pollution has negative effects on mental health . For families already dealing with crowded housing, unstable work and unreliable transport, smog adds another layer of psychological strain.
Smog's uneven toll
These effects are not shared equally. Low-income communities in cities like Lahore and Karachi often live closer to industrial corridors, busy roads or burning waste sites, and have far less control over their exposure.
People who work outdoors breathe in more polluted air than those who can work remotely or retreat indoors. Women managing unpaid care work describe feeling exhausted by the constant monitoring of children's coughs, many of whom also miss school.
For many households in Pakistan, air pollution interacts with other environmental threats such as extreme heat, flooding and water shortages. It is a pattern seen across developing countries, where climate change and pollution intensify existing inequalities and resilience depends not only on people's physical wellbeing but also on collective capacity to support one another and withstand overlapping crises.
Recognising these psychological and social dimensions is essential for designing effective public health and environmental responses. When smog becomes seasonal - a regular feature of winter rather than an occasional occurrence - people adapt in ways that affect social life, work patterns, schooling and mental wellbeing .
Persistent exposure can lead to hopelessness, a sense that nothing can be done, which undermines motivation to participate in civic discussions or environmental initiatives. Others experience heightened worry about their children's health, education and future, a form of "pollution anxiety".
These emotional responses matter because they shape how communities understand risk, respond to public messaging and engage with policy measures.
No one can solve city-wide smog alone, yet waiting only for national reforms can feel too slow and too distant. Community-level action occupies the space in between . Neighbourhood clean-air campaigns, school-based monitoring, local tree planting, reporting of illegal burning and collaborations between residents, health workers and municipal staff can increase awareness and create political pressure for broader systemic change.
These efforts do not replace national policy; they make it more likely to succeed. And they give people a sense of agency in a context where pollution can otherwise feel overwhelming.
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The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
