Raising the Awareness of Air Pollution

For many years people have lived with horrible air quality. It seems that every year it gets worse. Will it ever get better? The horrible air quality not only affects us, but it also affects the environment around us. Every year our temperatures rise, which causes a chain of reactions. For example in the Arctic when the temperatures are higher than normal the ice starts to melt, destroying Arctic animals habitats. This could also lead to high tides in the surrounding areas, causing flooding which cost millions of dollars to the government.

People contribute to air pollution on a day to day basis. Some do not even know they contribute to it. Tara from BIOFRIENDLYPLANET (2010) states “It is well known that vehicles contribute a large percentage of the CO2 emissions found in the U.S., especially in larger cities”. The article exhibits something as common as driving your personal vehicle is bad for the environment. CO2 diplinishes the ozone layer causing global warming to occur (2010). It is scientifically proven that the air indoors is five times more polluted than the air outdoors (2010). Common electronic items like the air conditioning unit and a stove can release deadly amounts of CO2 to be released into the building. Indoor pollution is the leading cause of premature deaths in the United States (2010). They are slowly decreasing at the moment, and are expected to decrease from 3.3 million to 2.2 millions premature deaths by 2040 (2010).

People die daily due to air pollution. Mosbergen from HuffPost (2016) states, “fourth-largest threat to human health after high blood pressure, dietary risks and smoking”. Air pollution is linked to serious illnesses and deaths, with air pollution being the fourth leading cause of death. Paris-based energy group states, “the number of deaths attributed to poor air quality is set to only rise in the coming decades” (2016). Change is needed or close friends or family may be the next victim. The outdoor pollution related deaths are set to rise in the coming decades (2016). We need to conserve our environment if we want to live in it. Asia will take the biggest effects on these deaths and that is because of their large population rate and the large amount of factories in Asia (2016). They are expected to be affected by 90% (2016).

According the World Health Organization, one in eight of the total global deaths are linked to air pollution (2012). That is an extremely high number and it should only rise at this point. These deaths are all linked to illnesses. In outdoor air pollution 40% of the deaths are because of heart diseases caused by air pollution (2012). Another 40% of the deaths are because of a stroke, 6% lung cancer, 11% chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and 3% is respiratory infections to young children (2012). For indoor pollution the illnesses and percentages are pretty similar, 34% of the deaths are from a stroke, 26% are from heart disease, 22% are from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, 12% are from respiratory infections to children, and 6% are from lung cancer (2012). All of these illnesses are linked to air pollution. It does not matter if someone stays inside or outside air pollution is everywhere and may cause illnesses that can be fatal. Indoor pollution illnesses are closer together in percentages, which is because the indoor pollution is much worse than the outdoor pollution (2012). Individuals always tend to have two points of view and that is not an exception for air pollution.

In conclusion, air pollution is something that everyone should know about. It is very important and should not be looked over. Everyday someone dies from an illness linked to air pollution. That is very bad, and can easily be prevented. People just need to research more and try to prevent what causes air pollution. Some of those actions include using public transportation or carpooling, or even just riding a bicycle. Some electrical items can not be prevented like air conditioners and refrigerators but people can also conserve energy and not use the electrical appliances to prevent this. If individuals prevent air pollution it will eventually help this cause a lot. It might not seem like anything the community does will help this cause but overtime it will be a drastic change. Possibly in the future there will be no more warmer days and the ozone layer can stop shrinking. With help from the community this cause can be solved. At the rate with air pollution getting worse there may be no going back but, communities can contribute and help decrease the amount of toxicants into the air.