Parisians are used to waving away thick clouds of smoke from their faces, but this time it's not from cigarettes. The French capital is currently cloaked in a heavy blanket of smog, a case of severe air pollution spurred by unseasonably warm temperatures. It's so bad that the city is making public transportation (including bikes and electric vehicles) free for the weekend to get people out of their cars and motorcycles.
The European Environment Agency reports that the smog is the worse it's been since 2007, with nearly three-quarters of France affected. Local hospitals are treating an influx of patients suffering from chronic respiratory ailments, such as difficulty breathing and coughing.
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