All Day, Everyday

With Every Breath

It's 6:30 a.m., you have to get to work. You get into your car, shaking the sleep from your head, you turn on the radio. Looking up, the sun is just starting rise through the horizon. A car tries to cut you off in this slow moving traffic, you roll the window as profane words spew out your mouth.  The morning air feels great against your skin. Taking a deep breath sounds really good right now; deep centering breaths. But there's a smell... You look over on your right, the man in the next lane over is smoking up a storm. As you roll up the windows, you look up once more, the morning sky is scattered industrial clouds.

From this everyday example, it is very clear to see how we interact with air pollution daily. The point of this blog is to make people aware of this. 

Mostly created by human hands, this problem is spreading, affecting the most industrialized countries, to the least. Killing our crops, reducing our rainforest, creating holes in our Ozone, leading to the increase of natural disasters, creating disease, causing death (both humans and animals). This problem is affecting every single living thing on this earth.

 Air pollution is both outside as well as indoor (air is everywhere!). According to Teenissues.com,  “Indoor air pollution is a growing concern as well. In addition to the pollution in our "fresh" air outside, our lifestyles also result in air pollution inside our very own homes.” Sometimes, it’s harmless in small quantities, like dust, pollen, and smoke, but if you have allergies to pollen, dust, or suffer from asthma and COPD, then this is extremely harmful to your health.

The environment is suffering as well. This pollution is

 eating away at our atmosphere, causing global warming, acid rain, drought, flooding and hurricanes.  It seems a little ridiculous that this change in air quality can cause so many negative outcomes, including the way the earth reacts but according to livescience.com, “The "dirty pollution," it seems, can cause changes in the temperature of the

 Atlantic Ocean, which in turn drives the stormy 

activity, say the researchers from

 the Met Office, the U.K.'s National Weather Service…

 A warm period in this cycle increases hurricane 

activity in the North Atlantic — warm water acts as 

fuel for the high-energy storms — and rainfall in 

parts of Africa, while reducing rainfall in South 

America. A cold phase has the opposite effects.” 

Meaning that this pollution is causing such a shift

 that even the earth health is on the fritz, causing

 random climate fluctuations.

"Air Pollution." Air Pollution. Web. 20 Apr. 2015. <http://www.teenissues.co.uk/airpollution.html>.

"Air Pollution Particulate Matter." Particulate Matter: 1. What Is Particulate Matter (PM)?Web. 20 Apr. 2015. <http://www.greenfacts.org/en/particulate-matter-pm/level-2/01-presentation.htm#0>.

Bryner, Jeanna. "Natural Disasters Tied to Unnatural Causes." LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 5 Apr. 2012. Web. 20 Apr. 2015. <http://www.livescience.com/19505-industrial-pollution-natural-disasters.html>.