Bangladesh's congested capital city Dhaka has topped the list of cities with the poorest air quality globally with an AQI score of 281 at 9:07 am on Saturday (14 December).
According to the air quality and pollution city ranking the air of Dhaka was marked as 'very unhealthy'.
With AQI scores of 216, 179, and 178, respectively, Pakistan's Lahore, India's Delhi, and Afghanistan's Kabul took the next three positions.
"Unhealthy" is defined as having an AQI between 151 and 200, "very unhealthy" as being between 201 and 300, and "hazardous" as being between 301 and 400, which poses major health hazards to locals.
Five criteria pollutants -- Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and Ozone – are assessed for AQI in Bangladesh.