Air Pollution: Smog, Smoke and Pollen
Picture: This map shows the air pollution in 2002-2006. Notice the areas in brown and red which show there is an unhealthy ozone. Even us, livng in Pennsylvania are affected.
Summary: As a result from different vehicles, factories, and a rise in temperature, there is an increase in smog pollution. Smog pollution leads to irritation in your eyes, nose, and lungs. Smog pollution also leads to an increase in wild fires. The increase in wild fires enlarges the amount of air pollution. This air pollution puts everyone who gets exposure to the outdoors in risk. Smog air pollution has a big affect on people with allergies, asthma, and other respiratory issues. “In 2010, the American Lung Association estimated that about 23 million Americans suffered from asthma.” These 23 million people could face more problems with the amount of smog pollution that is rapidly increasing. Only 11 states have raised awareness about the amount of smog pollution. We need more awareness about this deadly pollution so we save more lives and improve the air quality.
Reflection-
I think this is a very important topic to learn. Everyone is affected by this
smog pollution if you are outside. It is affecting our health and the environment.
I was surprised that only 11 states have raised awareness about this pollution.
If over 23 million people are affected by asthma and smog pollution worsens
asthma, more states should raise awareness. If more states raise awareness, we
could all come up with alternative ways for factories and vehicles to run
better than ever.
Questions:
1.) Do you
think it will make a difference if more than 11 states raise awareness? Why or
why not?
2.) What
kinds of alternative energy can we use for factories and or vehicles to reduce
the amount of smog pollution?
3.) What
kind of impact do you think smog pollution has on wild life? (like animals and
plants)
Opinion/Reflection
ReplyDeleteThe map shown is frightening! I did not know that we live in an area whose air is so polluted! It is also amazing how so many people have asthma because of this. I remember when we had to run the mile run in elementary and middle school and a lot of kids had to have their inhalers out and ready to go. I always felt so lucky that I didn’t have asthma because so many people did, and it seemed to be a pain in the butt and, at times, people could have attacks and I thought that was so scary. I really hope that there are not that many wildfires being started because of smog. I bet that would make people feel really bad, if a whole forest burned down because of the pollutants in the air. In addition, 11 states out of 50 that have raised awareness is pretty weak. You would think by looking at this map it would be much bigger. I hope Pennsylvania is raising awareness, (though I really don’t see much about this anywhere) because it really looks like it could be potentially dangerous.
3.) What kind of impact do you think smog pollution has on wild life?
A lot of wildlife out there relies on forests to offer them food and a home to call their own. If there is always a high possibility for forest fires, this could wipe out ecosystems, introduce invasive species, and even bring more humans into the forests to prevent these things, taking animals’ homes away. For wildlife that does not rely on forests year round, this air pollution could create acid rain, leaving their drinking water unhealthy. Since they do not really know whether it is healthy or not, I suppose they will drink it anyway and become ill.
Opinion/Reflection
ReplyDeleteWow, I had no idea smog was so widespread. I always knew that areas like Los Angeles had a real problem with it, but I had no idea that the majority of the country was greatly impacted as well - even Pennsylvanians! I definitely am concerned about this since it pollutes our air, and with the insane amounts of ozone pollution being emitted every day, we definitely don't need anything else contaminating our air. People with asthma must feel incredibly threatened by this. Not only are they being negatively impacted through the environment, but their health is being threatened as well! That's really terrible and I think this is definitely an issue that more people should be aware of. Air pollution is also very scary because it's impossible to escape. You can get away from pollution on land or in water by moving to a different area, but air is everywhere you go.
"Do you think it will make a difference if more than 11 states raise awareness? Why or why not?"
I definitely think raising awareness to this issue would help the situation. The first step in solving a problem is being aware that it exists, and with 39 states being basically clueless about the dangers of smog, it's very difficult for any change to occur. The more people know, the more ideas we can start to try and stop smog rom polluting our air.
Opinion/Reflection
ReplyDeleteThat is actually really surprising! I would have never thought that smog in the air would be the cause of asthma, considering I have asthma. All I know is that I was born with asthma, I didn't know that air pollution could actually be triggering it further. When someone thinks of asthma you normally think of someone running and having trouble breathing, but really asthma attacks can pop out of nowhere because of dust, pollen, and apparently the pollution in the air! Also, I know there have been a few recent forrest fires. I'm not quite sure where the fires were located (i'm thinking new jersey) but there are actually current northeastern wildfire warnings right now. It's very upsetting to know that we are the ones indirectly causing all of this mayhem by polluting our air. Imagine if we had less air pollution, how much healthier and safer we would be.
1.) Do you think it will make a difference if more than 11 states raise awareness? Why or why not?
I definitely think the more states that bring this issue up will raise citizen's air pollution awareness. When you look outside, you cant really SEE the pollution, and people are very visual creatures. If we were to show everyone this picture, maybe people would begin to take a step in the right directions by stopping their addition to pollution. To really bring this subject to our representative's attention so they will be able to tell other representatives and start a chain reaction of air pollution awareness.
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ReplyDeleteOpinion/Reflection:
ReplyDelete11 states??? Seriously though!!! I think thats what scares me the most about this article. It really freaks me out that so much happens that directly affect us as human beings that we don't even know about. I think it's great that at least we get to learn about how bad pollution is in our science's classes. But does everyone in the U.S. schools have to learn about this? If not, I think kids being taught about air pollution is a really important thing. Smog obviously is a huge issue if its affecting our environment and human and we have a right to be aware of what is going on! It's really upsetting that our area is brown but there are other places in the U.S. are white. I know it is unrealistic to have a goal where the entire U.S. is white, but we should 100 percent try to eliminate all of the brown. This will only happen by raising awareness and taking action!
Questions:
What 11 states have raised awareness?
What are the 11 states doing to raise awareness?
Where are the 11 states at as far as their air/smog pollution? (This will help us determine if air pollution is working)
How much do things like driving a prius, help with air pollution?