In November, for instance, which is the worst time in Delhi, farmers are burning stubble that is left on their fields as an efficient and cheap way to prepare for the next season of sowing. In Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, it's surrounded by all these extremely inefficient and dirty brick kilns. And there's very little you can do as a city about those things out there. You don't have jurisdiction. So this is everybody's problem, one that needs to be solved collectively.
Particulate matter is shortening lives and hobbling economies in the region. We ask how policy changes and international collaboration could mitigate the suffering as the pollution spreads. Our correspondent meets with two Russian men who, fearing being drafted, made a hair-raising journey by dinghy from their homeland’s far east. And why Seventh Day Adventists seem to live longer lives.
For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer