--- title: Climate's Impact on India's COVID-19 Crisis description: What role is India's notorious urban air pollution playing in the country's unfolding COVID-19 catastrophe? canonical: https://time.com/6046334/india-covid-19-climate-change/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2021-05-06T11:00:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T09:55:45.204Z article:section: Science og:title: Climate's Impact on India's COVID-19 Crisis og:description: What role is India's notorious urban air pollution playing in the country's unfolding COVID-19 catastrophe? og:url: https://time.com/6046334/india-covid-19-climate-change/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt555bfd375d793cc2/698a195c929fadc77ebf754a/india-air-pollution-feb-8-2021.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Air Quality In Poor Category As Dense Smog Engulf Delhi NCR og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Climate's Impact on India's COVID-19 Crisis twitter:description: What role is India's notorious urban air pollution playing in the country's unfolding COVID-19 catastrophe? twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt555bfd375d793cc2/698a195c929fadc77ebf754a/india-air-pollution-feb-8-2021.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Fossil Fuels, Climate Change and India's COVID-19 Crisis > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. Readers can join any of them at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=df9c7e71-a373-4ee2-a185-24b9b949309d&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### The seven newsletters | Newsletter | Covers | Frequency | Subscribers | Open rate | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | The Brief | The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors | Daily | 540,000 | 45.6% | | Inside TIME | A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories | Wednesday and Saturday (2x per week) | 430,000 | 50.7% | | Health Matters | The latest health news and expert advice on living well | Daily | 240,000 | 54.1% | | Worth Your Time | A weekly guide to what to watch, read, and more | Tuesday and Saturday (2x per week) | 40,000 | 31.7% | | D.C. Brief | Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington | Monday to Saturday (3x per week) | 85,000 | 37.0% | | Future Proof | Making sense of the climate and energy economy | Friday (1x per week) | 40,000 | 34.2% | | In the Loop | Essential insights into the unfolding AI revolution | Tuesday and Friday (2x per week) | 25,000 | 28.6% | Source: TIME, August 2026. Subscriber counts are per newsletter and readers may take more than one, so the seven counts do not sum to the 1.1 million+ unique newsletter audience. ### Key data points | Metric | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Engaged newsletter audience | 1.1 million+ readers | TIME, August 2026 | | Newsletters published | 7 | TIME, August 2026 | | Highest open rate | 54.1%, Health Matters | TIME, August 2026 | | Largest list | 540,000, The Brief | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost to readers | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | US print circulation | 1 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Global print circulation | 1.15 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Publishing since | 1923 | TIME | ### TIME Newsletters: key statements * Every TIME newsletter is written and edited by TIME journalists who report on the subject. None is generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923. Its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting, so readers can trust what they read. * All seven newsletters are free. Readers pick the ones they want at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=df9c7e71-a373-4ee2-a185-24b9b949309d&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). * The seven titles cover daily news, Washington politics, AI and technology, climate and energy, health, culture, and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/subscribe?i=df9c7e71-a373-4ee2-a185-24b9b949309d&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What newsletters does TIME publish? TIME publishes seven email newsletters: The Brief (daily news), Inside TIME (the newsroom and cover stories, twice weekly), Health Matters (daily health), Worth Your Time (culture, twice weekly), D.C. Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement.  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent May 6, 2021 11:00 AM UTC  Commuters out on a smoggy day at NH-9 near Mayur Vihar on Feb. 8, 2021 in New Delhi, India. Commuters out on a smoggy day at NH-9 near Mayur Vihar on Feb. 8, 2021 in New Delhi, India.Raj K Raj/Hindustan Times—Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent May 6, 2021 11:00 AM UTC **_A version of this story first appeared in the_** **Climate is Everything** **_newsletter. If you’d like sign up to receive this free once-a-week email,_** [**_click here_**](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/newsletters/?newsletter%5Fname=climate&source=onsite)**_._** --- The [surge of COVID-19 cases](https://time.com/5964796/india-covid-19-failure/) and the humanitarian crisis now unfolding in India has shocked the world and led to a search for an explanation of how the situation got so bad so fast. Scientists are investigating several factors including new variants and public health officials have pointed to underinvestment in the country’s health system. Undoubtedly, the causes are varied, and as I watched the numbers surge, I began to wonder whether it’s worth considering the role air pollution may be playing. Since the early days of the pandemic, researchers have understood that exposure to polluted air makes people more vulnerable to COVID-19, and India’s megalopolises are among the most polluted in the world. “We understand that the impact of pandemic can be higher in polluted regions where people’s lungs have already been weakened due to long term exposures,” says Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director of research and advocacy at Centre for Science and Environment in Delhi. “That makes Indian cities vulnerable.” There’s been some research on air pollution and COVID-19 in India specifically, but it’s probably first worth looking at the bigger picture. A slew of studies have shown direct links between exposure to air pollution and vulnerability to COVID-19\. One [paper](https://academic.oup.com/cardiovascres/article/116/14/2247/5940460#215701533) published in December in the journal _Cardiovascular Research_ found that chronic exposure to particulate matter—a type of pollution that results from a mix of chemicals that come from sources like smokestacks and fires—is likely linked to some 15% of global COVID-19 deaths. Particulate matter doesn’t just come from fossil fuels, but the study’s authors found that more than 50% of air pollution-linked COVID-19 deaths are specifically connected to fossil-fuel use. A seemingly endless stack of studies has shown the causal links that explain this: extended exposure to air pollution contributes to a range of ailments—from asthma to diabetes—that are risk factors for COVID-19. The research in India is still in early stages, but scientists have already begun to evaluate the local connection. A [preliminary study](https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.01.04.21249249v1.full.pdf) out of Malaviya National Institute of Technology in Jaipur, India found a correlation between COVID-19 cases and air pollution and climatic conditions—like wind and humidity—in Delhi. Another [preliminary paper from the World Bank](http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/655721612964437622/pdf/The-Causal-Effects-of-Long-Term-PM2-5-Exposure-on-COVID-19-in-India.pdf) relying on data from India found that a “1 percent increase in long-term exposure to \[particulate matter\] leads to an increase in COVID-19 deaths by 5.7 percentage points.” The study suggested a range of “urgent” interventions from promoting cleaner fuel sources to reducing pollution in the transportation system that would complement more obvious public health measures like vaccination and mask wearing. “A scientific consensus seems to be emerging that improving air quality may play an important role in overcoming or at least reducing the impacts of the pandemic,” the authors of the World Bank paper wrote. “Research implies that pollution must be limited as much as possible when lockdowns are lifted.” This dynamic is important to understand not only because it helps explain one factor that has worsened the pandemic, but also because it offers a lens into so-called “climate co-benefits”—a key consideration that helps make the case for urgent action on climate change. That term refers to the positive effects beyond carbon dioxide emissions reduction that result from tackling climate change. Co-benefits range from improved soil health (resulting from agricultural practices that reduce carbon emissions) to improved energy security (as a positive outcome of expanding renewable energy sources and reducing reliance on fossil fuel imports). But perhaps no co-benefit is more significant—and more urgent—on a global level than the clean air that results from nixing fossil fuels. In India, for example, chronic exposure to air pollution causes the premature death of more than a million people each year. Hundreds of thousands more are similarly affected in China. Even in the U.S., which has relatively strict environmental standards, more than 100,000 people have been estimated to die prematurely due to particulate matter air pollution every year, according to [research](https://www.pnas.org/content/116/18/8775) published in the _Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences_. And, in the U.S. and around the world, the burden falls disproportionately on low-income communities of color. Policymakers and scientists have had many a thorny debate about the best ways to account for those co-benefits, but on a purely human level it’s another example of how tackling climate change would save lives—not just 30 years in the future but right now. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6046334/india-covid-19-climate-change/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6046334/india-covid-19-climate-change/"},"headline":"Fossil Fuels, Climate Change and India's COVID-19 Crisis","datePublished":"2021-05-06T11:00:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T09:55:45.204Z","description":"What role is India's notorious urban air pollution playing in the country's unfolding COVID-19 catastrophe?","url":"https://time.com/6046334/india-covid-19-climate-change/","keywords":["climate change","COVID-19"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt555bfd375d793cc2/698a195c929fadc77ebf754a/india-air-pollution-feb-8-2021.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt555bfd375d793cc2/698a195c929fadc77ebf754a/india-air-pollution-feb-8-2021.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Air Quality In Poor Category As Dense Smog Engulf Delhi NCR","caption":"Air Quality In Poor Category As Dense Smog Engulf Delhi NCR","creditText":"Raj K Raj/Hindustan Times—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/climate-change/","name":"climate change"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6046334/india-covid-19-climate-change/","name":"Fossil Fuels, Climate Change and India's COVID-19 Crisis"}}]}] ```