Not being able to drink the water is bad enough, but not being able to breathe takes it up another level. It's such a sad state of affairs that in many parts o

Not being able to drink the water is bad enough, but not being able to breathe takes it up another level. It's such a sad state of affairs that in many parts of the world we can't even breathe the air. I'm in Thailand up in Chiang Mai where the "burning season"[1] has just begun. The mountains in the distance, normally plainly visible, are gone, hidden behind a blanket of smoke/smog. And the locals tell me, "hah, this is nothing, wait until March [when the air quality goes from merely unhealthy, to hazardous]". Berkeley Earth[2] reveals the state of the air in this side of the world. Am thinking of heading to northern India but it seems there's no safe haven short of climbing Mount Everest. Maybe at other times of year the air quality is much better; for the locals I hope so. [1] In Asia apparently every spring the farmers burn the previous season's rice fields in order to enrich the soil for the next crop. [2] http://berkeleyearth.org/air-quality-real-time-map/?z=4&x=107.07813&y=31.13512#links http://berkeleyearth.org/air-quality-real-time-map/?z=4&x=10...