When people hear pollution most people don’t think of air pollution right away. Air pollution is something we should all be thinking about more and make sure we understand what it is, what could happen because of air pollution
Air pollution by definition is any chemical, physical or biological agent that modifies the natural characteristics of the atmosphere. A lot of different substances can affect the air and cause air pollution. Cars, smoking, burning coal and burning fossil fuels are examples of outdoor air pollution. Smoking, open fire indoor cooking, CO from furnaces and other chemicals from different products we use in our homes, places of work, etc.
Air pollution is a bigger problem then many people think. A lot of people don’t know how much if affects people and how the pollution affects someone’s health. China is one of the top countries with air pollution issues and smog issues. In China, about 1.6 million people in die from air pollution a year, that is about 4,400 a day. In the world, it is estimated that 4.9 million people die from air pollution each year.
Preventing air pollution is something that more people should be making an effort to do and more people should be informing people about. Regulation, car pool, mass public transportation and switching to clean energy are all ways to prevent air pollution. Regulating what we put into the air and how much of a substance we put in the air can make a big difference. Car pooling and mass public transportation can decrease the amount of air pollution we cause from cars, buses, etc. Also, switching to clean energy can help us put healthier substances into the air and make our air cleaner and healthier to breath in.
Without preventing air pollution we would continue to obviously pollute our air but that would cause us to be breathing in unhealthy air and potentially even air that could be very hazardous for us to go outside for long periods of time and breath in. I don’t think anyone wants to get to the point in life that we have to wear certain clothes or masks to go outside so we can breath in healthy air to live. We need to take preventive measures when dealing with air pollution or any type of pollution for that matter so we can live the best lives we can on earth.
Rachel Lawrynk
References
Lecture Slides/Discussion
https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/air_pollution.htm
https://qz.com/794542/air-pollution-map-by-country-fine-particulate-matter/
http://air-pollution.in/possible-things-happen-if-dont-stop-air-pollution/
https://www.des.nh.gov/organization/divisions/air/tsb/ams/aqmdp/share.htm