Lahore’s toxic winters: how smog is reshaping daily life in urban Pakistan

By 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

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.

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…

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