Kabul - Post Report Question and Answers
What is the air quality like at post (good/moderate/bad)? Are there seasonal air quality issues? Does the air quality have an impact on health?
Yes, the pollution here is really bad in the winter. Kabul is in a valley and everyone burns anything in the winter. It is better in the summer but still not good. - Jul 2019
Very unhealthy. Unbelievably unhealthy. - Jun 2014
Kabul is in a bowl surrounded by hills. It's an LA effect. In the winter, people in Kabul burn everything. Snow turns brown in a day and you can taste the smog. There's a lot of construction all around and that creates a lot of dust. A lot of people walk around with the "Kabul cough" that clears up when you leave for R&R. - Jul 2013
Very poor, particularly in the winter, where particulate matter is in the air from every item imaginable being burned. Very toxic. Dust is heavy in the dry summer. - Mar 2013
Air quality is really bad. You are basically breathing in a pound of dust every time you walk outside in the winter and since they burn dung all winter long to stay warm you are breathing in fecal matter as well. If you live in one of the many hooches here you will notice the walls become coated with a slimy black goo....that is what you are breathing in. - Dec 2010
Kabul has an air quality issue. There are far too many cars, and frequent dust storms. People with allergies and asthma tend to have problems here. Afghanistan has got to be the dustiest country in the entire world. - Aug 2010
Poor, poor, poor. We're inhaling all sorts of pollution, dust, smoke, smog, and fecal matter. The smell is terrible in the winter, and the dust is very uncomfortable in the summer. - Jul 2010
