Traffic jams. Crowded subways. Agonizingly long waits for buses. Chile’s capital city of Santiago, home to 6.5 million people, or more than a third of the country’s population, is experiencing intense congestion—and this year an unusually strong dose of winter smog. In one of the coldest winters to hit Chile in decades, smog over the past four months has soared to its worst levels since 1999, triggering 22 environmental alerts and six official pre-emergencies. That roughly equals or exceeds the totals for each of the past six years. On May 12, the index used to track particulates in Santiago registered 409, well above the 301 level at which particulate contamination is considered “critical.” The biggest factor in this year’s severe smog was unusually... [Log in to read more]