Black cloud threatens Egyptians' health

Yeah, I'm guessing black clouds are bad.

For the seventh year running, a mysterious black cloud has appeared over Cairo, triggering serious health concerns for the polluted city's 16 million residents.

Fucking aresol cans.

Emissions of nitrogen dioxide, which cause serious health risks above certain levels, have reached record heights in the city, from the banks of the Nile, past the industrial suburbs of the delta and even in the desert areas.

So what emits nitrogen dioxide? Camels?

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that presence of more than 200 mg of nitrogen dioxide in the air is a great health risk. But in Egypt, the levels have reached as high as 305 mg in the Cairo district of Qolali and 482 mg in Giza.

When it comes to the health and safety of the Egyptian people, WHO cares. Sorry, couldn't resist writing that.

Cairo has one of the highest rates of pollution, ten times higher than global indicators defined by the WHO in October, making it one of the most polluted cities in the world together with Karachi, New Delhi, Beijing, Kathmandu and Lima.

And a big collective sigh of relief for all of us who don't live in those cities.

As in previous years, the authorities have admitted not knowing the exact causes of the black cloud, and have offered a variety of possible causes including the city's unbridled traffic, the burning of rubbish or of rice hay in the rural areas of the Nile Delta.

Maybe it's a sign from God that...well...maybe he was never fond of the white clouds.

The air is also contaminated by the burning of some 12,000 tonnes of domestic waste, as well as of the mountains of litter dumped in open fields in the suburbs.

The problem is people. IT'S PEOPLE!!