Air Pollution
In my opinion, the most serious environmental problem facing Earth today is air pollution. Air is essential for us humans to live; we breath air and it give us life. Now, if the air we breath on is polluted, our bodies will be polluted too after breathing it... and not only us humans but trees, plants, and animals too. According to Wikipedia, the Stratospheric ozone depletion due to air pollution has long been recognized as a threat to human health as well as to the Earth's ecosystems... The atmosphere is a complex dynamic natural gaseous system that is essential to support life on planet Earth. <
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_pollution> So, if we don't take care of this atmosphere, were done!
Air is easily distributed because is literally everywhere and it can even be trapped inside buildings, making it worse because lasts for a longer time. I've personally felt the effects of air pollution before, for example, when I visit Mexico City I feel drastic changes in my body. I start to feel tired, I have trouble breathing, my nose closes and gets dry, my eyes get red and itchy, my throat closes, gets dry too and hurts at night, my skin pores close and get dirty, etc. I know these effects are due to air pollution because here in Vallarta I don't feel any of those things. My skin feels clean, I sweat because my pores are open and I can breath perfectly! My nose doesn't close and my throat works just fine.
"Every day, the average person inhales about 20,000 liters of air. Every time we breathe, we risk inhaling dangerous chemicals that have found their way into the air." <
http://library.thinkquest.org/26026/Environmental_Problems/air_pollution.html>
We, humans, are the main contributors to this problem; we created products that pollute too much and we keep using them even after knowing their effects on us and Earth. Most of us, if not all of us, are aware of this problem but we don't do much about it. We keep polluting the Earth with everyday products like sprays, cars, fumes, air conditioning, fossil fuels, etc. We have caused this problem ourselves and the worst thing is that we don't care becasue we still pollute everyday... Although there's some that pollute more than others. This has become a major problem in some big cities like Mexico City and soon people will only be breathing contamination. "Mexico City’s air has gone from among the world’s cleanest to among the dirtiest in the span of a generation." <
http://www.sbg.ac.at/ipk/avstudio/pierofun/mexico/air.htm>
There has been many consequences due to this issue, some have been severe; it's a cause and effect cycle that humans have made to themselves. Everyday, people suffer from health issues due to this problem, even more the ones that live in real polluted cities. In fact, "A study from 1999 to 2000 by the University of Washington showed that patients near and around particulate matter air pollution had an increased risk of pulmonary exacerbations and decrease in lung function... During the time of the study 117 deaths were associated with air pollution. A trend was noticed that patients living closer or in large metropolitan areas to be close to medical help also had higher level of pollutants found in their system because of more emissions in larger cities". <
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_pollution>
Overall, air pollution have caused and keeps causing many damages to both humans and ecosystems. We gotta do something about it, or else, we will soon live in a world of pure pollution. Purity will dissappear from the air if we keep damaging nature and the atmosphere will someday dissappear!!! We need to take care of our friends the air cleansers called "trees and plants". We need to reduce the use of "sprays, air conditioners, cars, etc." I know we like comfort and easy living, but we also like to be healthy and clean, so the best way to mantain our planet alive is just to make some effort and take conscience of all the damages we are creating to ourselves.
Heal the world, make it a better place!
=)
