NASA satellite imagery from Oct. 8-31, 2017, shows crop fires spreading throughout the state of Punjab, India. Every October, farmers in northern India set fire to the straw in their rice fields, worsening pollution in New Delhi. MADAN HERI, India — All it takes is a match. One by one, in the coming days, farmers in this compact village in northern India will set fire to the straw in their freshly harvested rice fields. Pungent gray smoke will rise into the air. Then it will drift southeast toward New Delhi, thickening the smog that has turned India’s capital into the most polluted major city in the world. Just weeks remain before the 29 million people living in greater Delhi are plunged into their annual battle with extreme air pollution. Each November the past two years, the level of particle pollution considered most harmful to human health has spiked to […]