孟买居民在10月大部分时间里忍受了异常朦胧的天空，这暴露了长期以来保护印度金融中心免受北方城市严重空气污染侵袭的沿海风力的局限性。
Mumbai residents endured unusually hazy skies for much of October, exposing the limits of coastal winds that have long shielded India’s financial capital from the severe air pollution that plagues cities further north.
据彭博社对中央污染控制委员会数据的分析，截至10月27日，该市平均每日空气质量指数从9月的45.4跃升至102，增幅超过一倍。根据瑞士空气质量技术公司IQAir的实时读数，孟买甚至一度跻身印度污染最严重城市之列。
The city’s average daily air quality index more than doubled to 102 through Oct. 27, from 45.4 in September, according to a Bloomberg analysis of Central Pollution Control Board data. Mumbai has even ranked as India’s most polluted city, according to live readings from Swiss air-quality technology company IQAir.
这一激增使这座大都市有望在季风过境后的过渡期经历自2019年以来空气质量恶化最剧烈的一次。在过去七年中，孟买10月平均空气质量指数超过100（印度将这一水平归类为不健康）仅出现过两次。IQAir数据显示，PM2.5（可深入肺部的细颗粒物）浓度较9月增长了两倍多。
The surge puts the metropolis on track for its sharpest deterioration in air quality during the post-monsoon transition since at least 2019. It’s only the second time in seven years that Mumbai’s average October air quality index has topped 100, a level India classifies as unhealthy. Concentrations of PM2.5, fine airborne particles that can penetrate deep into the lungs, more than tripled from September, IQAir data showed.
大气科学家、印度首个先进空气质量预报系统SAFAR创始人古夫兰·贝格表示，历史上强劲的沿海风有助于分散排放物，使该城市免受笼罩印度北部部分地区的持续性烟雾侵袭。
Historically, strong coastal winds have helped disperse emissions and spared the city from the persistent smog that blankets parts of northern India, according to atmospheric scientist Gufran Beig, founder of India’s first advanced air-quality forecasting system, SAFAR.
贝格说：“今年的厄尔尼诺现象是有记录以来最强的之一，它减缓了这些风，导致本地产生的污染物在城市上空滞留时间更长。这种情况可能会持续到年底。”孟买是国内一些最富有的人（包括穆克什·安巴尼）以及信实工业有限公司、塔塔集团等顶级财团的所在地，交通、建筑、道路扬尘和工业产生大量污染。然而，今年的恶化程度更为剧烈，此前该市刚经历了自2019年以来最清洁的9月。空气污染通常在季风过后加剧，并在11月下旬至次年2月间达到高峰。
“This year’s El Niño, which is one of the strongest on record, has slowed those winds, allowing locally generated pollutants to remain trapped over the city for longer,” Beig said. “We’re likely to see this continue till the end of the year.”Mumbai — home to some of the country’s richest people, including Mukesh Ambani, and top conglomerates such as Reliance Industries Ltd., and Tata Group — generates significant pollution from traffic, construction, road dust and industry. The deterioration this year, however, has been sharper, following the cleanest September since 2019. Air pollution typically worsens after the monsoon and peaks between late November and February.
据研究机构Envirocatalysts创始人兼首席分析师Sunil Dahiya表示，该市的建设热潮可能正在削弱其自然优势，因为施工产生粉尘，而密集的高楼群可能阻挡海风。
The city’s building boom may be eroding its natural advantage as construction generates dust, while dense clusters of high-rises can block sea breezes, according to Sunil Dahiya, founder and lead analyst at research firm Envirocatalysts.
印度拥有世界上一些污染最严重的城市，其中大部分位于北半部，那里浓重的冬季烟雾长期以来一直是首都新德里的一个反复出现的问题。孟买空气质量的恶化表明，危机正在向更广泛的范围蔓延，因为随着快速建设和交通量增加加剧排放，不断变化的天气模式使得降雨和沿海风变得不再可靠。随着城市的发展，这一挑战可能会加剧。
India has some of the world’s most polluted cities, most of them in the northern half, where a thick winter smog has long been a recurring problem in capital New Delhi. Mumbai’s worsening air points to a broader spread of the crisis, as changing weather patterns make rainfall and coastal winds less reliable just as rapid construction and rising traffic add to emissions. The challenge is likely to intensify as the city grows.
印度理工学院孟买分校助理教授Abhishek Chakraborty表示，与气候变化相关的更热、更潮湿的条件可能会进一步削弱孟买的海风。结果是，这座城市产生更多污染，同时清除污染的能力却在下降。
Hotter and more humid conditions linked to climate change could further weaken Mumbai’s sea breezes, said Abhishek Chakraborty, assistant professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. The result is a city producing more pollution while becoming less able to clear it.
他说：“一切都在以一种糟糕的方式汇聚在一起，使情况变得更糟。”
“Everything is coming together in a bad way to make things worse,” he said.