Air Pollution @sameair-weallarebreathing - Tumblr Blog

This is kind of powerful.

Big climate news today: We’re announcing $4 billion in new clean energy commitments from investors and foundations. Learn about how America is generating more clean energy than ever.

Face down in retrospective mud

Air pollution itself, I think, is one of it’s own blind spots. People tend not to think about it, especially in places like America, where it is not as bad, therefore not as visible. Many people know of the horrible smog in places such as India and China, and empathize with them. Some people may think that it is bad because it is visible, but don’t realize that if it is not on that level quite yet, it is almost invisible. Smog in America is not yet a problem for most people because they do not think about it, large in part because they cannot see it. However, you can see pollution in things like car exhaust on the highway, or the smoke coming out of the chimneys of industrial or manufacturing plants. But, since it’s not something that we feel we can change or is causing a visual issue at this moment, many people do not even think about it. They simply continue to burn fossil fuels out of cars, houses, building, everything, without giving it a second thought. Because we are in a country where it is not overcome with smog, but it very well may be soon.

#Journal 1 #fyw #blind spots.

earthstory

This filmmaker travels to Siberia and through both interviews and landscape shots explores the contrast between the arctic steppes and the gigantic industrial city that supports the local economy.

My Deadly, Beautiful City uncovers the veiled world of a Siberian Arctic mining city and how an unstoppable, unconditional passion for industrial wastelands makes its people blind to the threatening reality they face. Their relationship with their deadly beautiful world is a chilling mirror of our own attitudes towards the earth.

Run with me through the flames

People against transitioning to alternative energy sources could be those who are in the gas business. People sitting on piles of money because of the gas industry do not want people to transition to any other sort of renewable energy, because then where would their business be? Where would their income go? The modern world as we know it is built relying on gas as a main source of energy; gas stoves and ovens, gas cars, trucks, automobiles, gas powered machines, entire industries, so many things that people use every day are powered by gas. It is not even really something that people think about anymore. It seems to be a part of life that is simply unavoidable. You have to pay for gas to go places, to cook food, to heat your home, to survive. It seems to just be a part of life. But it doesn’t have to be. Alternative sources of energy are ready to go to try and preserve the world and people’s pockets, but people who have power and have money are preventing it from happening. Why? Because their lives are built around fracking and/or selling gas to millions of people every day, making millions with it as well. They don’t want the world to find out that there is an undamaging, cost effective way to live without gas, or using much less gas, because they want their industry to boom so that they can make more money. If people switch, they will still be making money because I’m sure there are some things that are unavoidable, have not been found to be replaceable yet, or use gas as a backup, but they don’t want to risk even a little bit of their profits leaving them. One of the seven deadly sins is greed, and that seems to be the reputation for a lot of gas business owners.

#fyw #journal 2 #this one isn't rocket summer either #but

npr

Even the combined deaths from HIV/AIDS and malaria isn't quite as devastating. The culprits are the usual suspects, like cars and industry, but also cookstoves and ... manure?

nrdc

Each major wind farm in America creates 1,000+ jobs and adds millions of dollars to local communities. Today, wind farms generate about 50,000 megawatts of clean, renewable energy – the equivalent of the energy produced by 12 Hoover Dams. Read more in two recent NRDC reports: At Wind Speed: How the U.S. Wind Industry is Rapidly Growing Our Local Economies American Wind Farms: Breaking Down the Benefits from Planning to Production

wehadfacesthen

Londoners carrying on during the Killer Fog of 1952 (AKA The Great Smog). It lasted 5 days, killed 4,000 people and made 100,000 ill. These pictures were taken in daylight.

The Sound of Your Heart

I’ve never been good at relaying my feelings externally in any way, shape, or form. When I try or accidentally express myself verbally, I stutter or nothing comes out and wind up making weird gestures with my body. Sometimes I can pretend and make it seem like I have everything together when I write, but even then I never want anyone to read those thoughts. They’re just for me. Sometimes even I don’t know how I’m feeling, which is how music started to become more and more of an important part of my life. They say music is just music, and not to take the lyrics too seriously. I say let them speak for me.

Music is the most precious things in my life. Music is one of the few things that make sense to me. Music helps take the words I can’t find right out of my mouth, so that I don’t have to worry about those things. Music is what gave me confidence and self-assurance in both my experiences and in myself. Music is what makes my world go ‘round.

Rock is the genre that resonates with me the most. To me, rock music seems freer with their lyrics, and more personal in their experiences. It was these songs that let me see partially into their lives and seeing that we were going through similar things, and these bands that helped me validate the way I was feeling, showed me that other people felt the same way I did, and went through similar things as I did, both physically and psychologically. Different bands and different types of less popular music pushed me through different stages of my life, though I didn’t realize this until much later on in my life.

Hard rock dragged me through middle school, when I hated people and didn't want to be near anyone anymore.

Alternative rock pulled me by the ankles, as I struggled to hang on to myself and who I was, as well as who I wanted to be.

Punk rock balanced hope at the ends of its fingertips when I had nowhere else to look for it, and I had lost most of my friends.

Indie rock swayed me to sleep as I came to grips and accepted the world, and tried to ignore it.

Pop rock holds my hand as I continue to realize who I am, whether I want to or not.

Pop punk sits next to me as I type, proud of where I am and where I've been, acting as my main source of support.

The first time I realized that I was slowly becoming happier, I noticed myself listening to more pop music, and more uplifting lyrics. The bands I listened to started including more supportive songs that I obsessed over. One day I would be listening to “Tell Me I’m A Wreck” by Every Avenue, detailing the way I felt about myself and people’s expectations of me, the next I was silently blasting “These Times,” SafetySuit reassuring me something I already knew: “these times are hard, but they will pass.”

There was one month, years ago that I obsessed over songs like “Welcome to my life” by Simple Plan, because I believed it outlined my life and the way I saw it. I cried on the floor of my bedroom to that song, that entire album because I couldn’t see an end to misery in sight. I’d wanted to take myself out of this world, or as far as I could while blasting Breaking Benjamin and Panic! at the Disco.

My mom would be concerned. I would lay in bed all day after school, I wouldn’t eat, and I would be mad at every one and every thing. She’d come into the room, not even knock, and put her hand on my ankle.

“What’s wrong?”

That was a question I endured for a lifetime.

“What’s wrong, Keri?”

“What’s the matter with you?”

“Ew why are you listening to that that’s so depressing.”

“Gross you like that band? What’s wrong with you?”

She would sit there for a minute, not understanding my music choices and not saying much of anything. We aren’t really a talking family. So when I didn’t respond, or even look at her, she would huff and walk out.

We are also a very passive aggressive family.

I’d always imagined my mother one day having a frustrated breakdown.

“How am I supposed to know what Matt’s doing? He doesn’t tell me anything,” she’d noted once about my brother. “I think Kassi’s at Dayna’s house.” She wasn’t. “Why didn’t you tell me?!” My mom would raise her voice at us, and whether she was lilting in nervousness or growling in anger, this was only when it was too late because we never told her when it first happened. My own mother didn’t know how important music was to me, and didn’t understand my obsession with concerts.

I didn’t really get a chance to talk with anyone about how I felt, so I relied on music my whole life. It allowed me to feel the emotions that I couldn’t exactly get out, by showing me that I was not alone and that they are valid. Then I started at new schools with people who were simply so much better than my hometown. And then it seemed like the bands I listened to were growing up with me, and it's as if their albums reflect my own life. Although I know that's impossible, the lyrics that they wrote seemed to be written for me, narrating my growth and budding happiness.

All Time Low released “Don’t Panic,” my favourite album to date. The number of times I have blasted away my feelings to every single one of those songs is innumerable. Simple Plan released “Get Your Heart On,” which made me feel this irrational happiness in my soul. The Maine released “Pioneer,” which made me close my eyes and grin when I listened to all of their songs. Two albums later, I cried along to John’s entire retelling of battling his way through life and depression on “American Candy” as we both grew and got better.

And as I listen to the lyrics, I'm happy for their happiness, and it's as if they are for mine as well. I listen to old albums of bands I loved and still love, I’m amazed at how far we both have come: from once wanting to be anything but with the world, to finally maybe finding some small fountain of happiness just for us. They sang the words I couldn’t even say, and expressed my emotions when I wasn’t completely sure what I was feeling. We have grown together, physically and emotionally, a way I never could way either my family or my friends.

I know it's a somewhat generic phrase, to say "Music saved my life," and maybe it didn't, but it sure provided an overwhelming helping hand.

#fyw #self portrait #music #this title is not the Rocket Summer #its the 1975 #but still

These hands can create some better things for better-ing

Global warming has always been a controversial topic. Is it real? Is it a hoax? Isn’t it the same as climate change? What even is climate change? According to both NASA and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Earth’s average planetary temperature is rising, and will continue rising. This is what we call “climate change.” It has caused and will cause many environmental issues including a rise in global temperature, sea levels, glacial retreat, and ocean acidification. Climate change has largely been caused by global warming, caused mostly by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the excessive use of fossil fuels, methane released from landfills and agriculture, and gases used for industrial processes. All of these causes are included in the degradation of the air, adding to air pollution. Air pollution is one of the most damaging processes that effect the environment. However, since this process is not visible to the naked eye or in any sort of micro aspect, many people do not believe that it is happening. In 2012, president elect Donald Trump tweeted that "The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make US manufacturing non-competitive." This means that the presidency does not believe that it is real or that it is a pressing issue that the world should worry about, and will likely not acknowledge air pollution whatsoever in the next 4 years. Therefore, the US people must acknowledge it themselves, and negotiate their own cleaner air, such as striving toward the use of solar and wind energy.

There are many ways that people can avoid contributing to air pollution. One of these ways is solar power. Solar power is the production of energy by collecting sunlight and converting it into electricity by the use of solar panels. Solar panels are simply left out in the sun in order to collect solar energy, meaning no use of manmade electricity, no burning of fossil fuels or gases, and no addition of pollutants to the atmosphere. Currently, the use of solar panels takes place mainly in remote locations where there is more room to place them, but has recently started becoming popular in more urban areas, mainly on rooftops. According to home inspector Bill Barber, one hour of energy from the sun could equal one year of power for the global population. Opposed to the burning of fossil fuels in our everyday lives, solar energy is 100% renewable, and greatly reduces the potential further damages of global warming. Alternative Energy News states that solar energy is the third most important renewable energy source, after hydro and wind. However, due to many businesses, and a large contribution from capitalism, solar energy is not being taken advantage of as much as it morally should be, even though the estimated savings of solar energy over 20 years is around $16,000. Therefore, not only are solar users helping save the environment, but are also helping their wallets.

The one downfall of solar energy is its limitation. While the conversion of solar energy is abundant and continuous when the sun is out, it is not being collected at night, and also depends on weather conditions. However, solar panels collect excess energy that is not used, and can be used throughout the night, depending on how much is collected and how many panels are collecting. Therefore, consumers must contemplate before buying solar panels on if they want to become dependent on it. Variables such as location and how much of the year their particular area gets sun should be considered. Northern countries, for example, such as northern Canada, Alaska, and Norway, have very long, dark winters, where solar panels may not be as effective as they would in Australia or even North America. Without the sun, the panels will not be able to collect or store energy, even if panels are collecting for the rest of the sunny year. In Yuma, Arizona, on the other hand, solar panels would be very beneficial, as it has been named the “sunniest place in the world,” enjoying 91% of daylight hours and an average of 4,055 hours of daylight a year, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. For all of those daylight hours, solar panels would generate and collect energy in excess, allowing the owner to essentially never need to pay electric energy bills again.

Another way to avoid adding to air pollution is wind power. Wind power is also a renewable, green energy source that does not contribute to pollution. According to National Geographic (NG), wind is the movement of air from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure. In simpler terms, hot air rises into the atmosphere, and as it does, cold air moves to fill the void it leaves. Because the sun does not heat the earth evenly, there will always be wind. Therefore, as long as there is a sun to heat up the Earth, there will be wind to power wind turbines. Wind turbines are essentially giant propellers connected to the ground. As the wind turns the blades, the shaft of the turbine turns with them and powers a generator, meaning no manpower whatsoever, no burning of fossil fuels, and no addition to pollution. According to National Geographic, the biggest wind turbines generate enough electricity to supply about 600 U.S. homes. These 600 homes would no longer need fossil fuel support, reducing a relatively substantial part of air pollution, and that is only for one big turbine. Imagine the effect of smaller turbines due to lack of space, powering 200 homes, but being able to put them in multiple places in an area. Fossil fuels would nearly not be needed, and air pollution would become minimal.

Wind turbines would also cover for the energy that could not be collected by solar panels. If needed, solar panels would support the energy needed during the day, and when that energy is used up, wind turbines collect through the night and weather that blocks the sun, as long as there is wind.

Some people, however, oppose wind farms because they are “ugly” or “make too much noise.” The slowly rotating blades can also kill birds and bats, but not nearly as many as cars, power lines, and high-rise buildings do (NG). Opposed to these, though, smaller turbines erected in a backyard can produce enough electricity for a single home or small business, and since wind is at no cost and of no control of anyone, once a turbine is constructed and in motion, operational costs are essentially nothing. Similar to solar panels, though, turbines need space to be erected and in use, which is why many wind farms are located in areas with more flatlands, rather than in urban cities where more energy would be used. However, energy can be stored and transferred after being created in a generator so that energy can be stored and moved instead of limited to the space around where it is located. Vortex, a startup from Spain, is also developing Bladeless, a wind turbine excluding the blades. Instead of large propellers generating the energy, large white poles are designed to oscillate and violently shake using the vortex that blowing wind generates around it. Without blades, there is a reduction of bird and animal related issues, as well as a reduction of the cost of upkeep, which are two of the main problems considered by consumers before investing in turbines. Investing in wind turbines of either sort are beneficial for both the environment and for consumer wallets, especially those who cannot sustain off of solar panels due to lack of sufficient sunlight.

Renewable energy is very important to the environment and the progression of not only this country, but also the Earth itself. The effects of global warming and climate change are already underway, and will continue to effect the natural environment even greater as time continues and air pollution gets worse. As the human race, people are responsible for taking care of the world they live in, and people, such as Donald Trump, not even believing in the concept of something that is destroying the planet, makes change difficult. The only way to go about beginning to save the air, people, animals, and earth in itself, is to try to reduce the amount of pollution people put into the air individually, and working to help others do the same for everyone’s benefit. Solar and wind energy are a start to all these problems, and also a way to defy the president elect and what he may stand against. Global warming is real, and it is not going to stop because America’s president doesn’t want to acknowledge it.

Sources

#fyw #air pollution #Solve the issue #solar energy #wind power

sunlitrevolution

Bladeless wind turbines generate electricity by shaking, not spinning

Scientists hope to hugely reduce the cost of wind energy by removing the blades from wind farms, instead taking advantage of a special phenomenon to cause the turbines to violently shake.

Vortex, a startup from Spain, has developed the tall sticks known as Bladeless — white poles jutting out of the ground, that are built so that they can oscillate. They do so as a result of the way that the wind is whipped up around them, using a phenomenon that architects avoid happening to buildings and encouraging it so that the sticks shake.

They do so using vortices, which is where the company gets its name from. The bladeless turbines use special magnets to ensure that the turbines are optimised to shake the most they can, whatever speed the wind is travelling at.

As the sticks vibrate, that movement is converted into electricity by an alternator.

A Letter to my Sister

Dear Kristen,

Dad’s sick. I mean, he’s been sick, but he’s getting worse. I know this is not the news you want to hear while you’re abroad for the foreseeable future, but I thought you should know. They say they’re not really sure what it’s from, but I know it’s from air pollution. He’s not getting better.

I know. I’ve been going on about the air pollution for ages. But that’s what it is. He’s been working in that factory for too long and all that garbage is getting into his lungs. Did you know air pollution is the number one environmental cause for cancer? I did. Now we get to experience it first hand. It’s cancer, Kris. Dad has cancer.

And it’s not like cancer has ever run in the family. Dad has never smoked a cigarette in his life. He exercises almost every day. He eats healthier than I do. He’s healthy.

But air pollution doesn’t care. It’s taking him and his lungs and his entire body from us and making him struggle. We’re taking him to a specialist soon, but they say he’s already in too deep. That there’s really not much left we can do. The symptoms were so subtle that we didn’t notice until it was too late. The cancer’s spread too far already.

And it’s all that daMN FACTORY’S FAULT. I told him to quit that job. I told him it wasn’t good for him, or for the environment, or for anybody. That factory adds some of the most dangerous chemicals to the environment. Plus it’s doing it almost all day, adding to the air twenty-four hours a day, and Dad was around that five days a week. He was around all that carbon monoxide and vinyl chloride and arsenic. Airborne chemicals that can kill you, if too much of it gets into your lungs constantly suffocated him. Remember when he first started getting lightheaded after he came back from work? That should have been our first warning.

It always confused me how he worked in that factory. He was always so for the environment, y’know? He would always turn off all the lights if we didn’t need them, we got an electric car, and he bought all those solar powered things for us to use instead. But he worked at that factory, which is so confusing because it’s so bad for the environment. It’s one of the country’s worst contributors to air pollution. So I’m confused. Why would he work so hard and so constantly for a company that almost directly is destroying the ozone layer, and the environment, and it even affects all the animals. Now it’s destroying him too. It’s almost ironic, isn’t it? That an advocate for personally doing as much as he can to help the environment and avoid pollution, is now slowly getting killed because of air pollution. It’s so ironic it’s almost funny. If it was hypothetical and if it wasn’t dad, that is.

I don’t know. I hate it. I don’t know what to do. Dad’s gonna start chemo soon, I think. If there’s any chance that something can save him, you know mom’s gonna take it. Anyway, I hope you’re having a good time in South Africa with the new job and everything. I miss you.

Love,

Keri

#fyw #letter #air pollution

#psa video #video #air pollution

architecture-effects-blog

BIG’s Waste-to-Energy Plant is a Ski Slope that Puffs Giant Rings of Water Vapor

A new waste-to-energy plant now under construction near the center of Copenhagen re-imagines not only what a factory looks like, but what it does. Along with producing energy and reducing pollution, the plant features a ski slope on its roof for public use. Designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), the plant redefines how the community interacts with and understands its energy sources. “We were driven to do something that would be perceived as more than a just a power plant, one that also gave something back to the citizens of Copenhagen as opposed to just delivering power,” says BIG partner Kai-Uwe Bergmann. Even though the power plant won’t directly emit pollution into the city, it will also remind its citizens that incineration does have an environmental cost. Every time a ton of carbon dioxide is burned at the plant, the building will emit a symbolic smoke ring made of water vapor. Bergmann hopes that by providing people with this information, they will be more cognizant of their energy spending habits. “I think we would all engage with our energy systems much more if we felt that they were a part of our city, rather than things that you push out to the periphery or industrial areas,” Bergman notes. By bringing energy into the realm of popular culture and everyday life, BIG hopes to shift public perceptions and encourage a culture of energy awareness. When the new building is completed in 2018, it will replace the city’s current waste-to-energy plant, which has been in operation for over 40 years. It aims to be the world’s most efficient and cleanest of its kind.

The weight of the world singing sorrow

Global warming is not a myth. The Earth is and has incurred deterioration over the span of many years for countless reasons including, but not limited to, the greenhouse effect, the excessive use of fossil fuels, methane released from landfills and agriculture, and gases used for industrial processes. All of these causes are included in the degradation of the air, adding to air pollution. Air pollution is one of the most damaging processes that effect the environment, and is contributed to in excess every single day. New York City, one of America’s most busy cities, is also one of the most at risk cities to have air pollution related health problems. Compared to areas in other countries, such as Beijing where pollution is much more visible, some people do not think air pollution should be such a worry in New York City, however the concentration of pollutants in the air has slowly been rising higher above the federal standard of clean air, which may lead to many different types of health issues and eventually premature death.

Air pollution is much more subliminal than anything visible to the naked eye. In areas such as New York City, harmful chemical reactions are an abundance that cannot be seen, but are contributed even in the smallest of actions. Abbreviated to PM2.5, particulate matter with a diameter smaller than 2.5 microns is produced by combustion and burning of fossil fuels, as well as chemical reactions between air molecules such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and volatile organic compounds (Dept. of Environmental Conservation, 2016). All of these reactions can be, and are, caused by activities such as industrial work, driving, charging laptops, leaving the lights on, or any sort or use of nonrenewable electricity. Especially in an area such as NYC, where people are always on the move, public transportation is in action all hours of the day, which adds immeasurably to the pollution of the air. Federal Standards state that humans can safely tolerate 12 micrograms of pollution per cubic meter of air. However, parts of the tri-state area can register anywhere between 12.9-14.7 micrograms. Measurements this high raise local risk by 8.1-24.3% (Engel, 2015). These measurements are not specifically focused on areas like Manhattan, so it is inferred that the closer to Manhattan, the higher the measurement of micrograms. Therefore, New York City, having the highest concentration of both people using electricity and burning fossil fuels, raises its health risk close to 22%. The NYC Health Department estimates that PM2.5 causes over 3,000 deaths, 2,000 admissions into the hospital for lung and heart issues, and about 6,000 emergency room visits for asthma in people of all ages. They also estimate that reducing the PM2.5 by as low as 10% could possibly prevent hundreds of premature deaths, hospital admissions, and emergency visits annually. Lowering the PM2.5 would also result in NYC becoming the “cleanest air of any big city,” which would also result in even more public health benefits (NYC Dept. of Health, 2014). The effects of air pollution are not restricted to any one demographic, whether it be age, race, or gender. Negative health affects affect all New Yorkers, and all people in the world, whether they are conscious of it or not. Though it may seem as though a case of strep throat, asthma, or even a simple bacterial infection may be caused by anything in the natural world, there is a large chance that the pollution of the air had a heavy hand in the illness, directly or indirectly.

Air pollution is not only considered in sicknesses and issues like bacterial infections and asthma, but in serious illnesses that can be detrimental to an affected person’s life. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency described symptoms varying from airway inflammation and sensitivity, decreased lung function, changes in heart rhythm and blood flow, increased blood pressure, increases in the tendency to form blood clots, and biological markers of inflammation (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2009). While these symptoms may seem normal or seem to have other causes depending context of the person, in 2013, the World Health Organization (WHO) determined air pollution to be a carcinogenic, one that causes cancers varying from cardiovascular, lung, and respiratory. Air pollution can quickly evolve from something that people cannot help but produce, to a life-threatening, irreversible disease that may or may not take its victim’s life. Cancer of any type is the most concerning and life-threatening diseases in any part of the body. Air pollution has been shown to cause cancers mainly by the heart, lungs, and/or respiratory system, all extremely vital in terms of living and continuing to live. In 2014, WHO estimated that around 7 million people died in 2012 due to exposure to air pollution. That equals to 1 in 8 of the total global deaths that year. In New York itself, the NYC Department of Health approximates the number of New York deaths by air pollution to be 6% of all annual death in the city (NYC Dept. of Health, 2014). Even if a personal outcome is not immediately identified, air pollution can directly cause lung and heart problems, reproduction issues, and failure of the immune system.

The biggest issue with air pollution is that in many places and scenarios, air pollution is all but invisible to the naked eye. It isn’t so much as a second thought, or some people don’t think about it at all as they use electricity all day or drive their cars everywhere. Air pollution contribution is not given a second thought because it is added to in such invisible increments that are part of peoples’ everyday lives. The addition of a single person to pollution in a single day may not be very large in a microscopic view, but in a macroscopic view, all of these small contributions come together in term of both the number of people there are in the world adding pollution to the air at the same time, the continuing contribution for the foreseeable future of fossil fuels, and the amount of pollution and irreversible damage air pollution has already caused. According to the Energy Information Administration, the second most consumed source of energy is motor gasoline, which is very damaging to the environment, the air, and the Earth. The danger of the air is not nearly as apparent as it would be if we could notice it, but effects everyone, aware of it or not.

Air pollution is one of the most detrimental and dangerous second thoughts in the natural world. It has the capacity to kill slowly and cause countless different health problems. As the human race, we are responsible for taking care of the world we live in, and we are doing a pretty shoddy job at it. However, New York has taken strides to become cleaner, especially in light of how much energy and gas the city uses. According to the Energy Information Administration, the most consumed source of energy in 2014 was natural gas, which was consumed over 50% more than the second: motor oil. Natural gas, while still a fossil fuel, is the least damaging to the environment. When combusted the main products of natural gas are carbon dioxide and water vapor, similar to the exhalation of breathing. Other fossil fuels, however, release much more damaging compounds with higher carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur contents (NaturalGas.org, 2013). Since the combustion of natural gas contains the least damaging compounds, it is the safest of the fossil fuels in terms of air pollution, however it is still not completely safe from causing illnesses. In 2012, New York became the first northeastern state to require that all heating oil be ultra-low sulfur diesel in an attempt to curb air pollution, and between 2008 and 2014, sulfur dioxide levels fell 67% across NYC and maintained lower levels through winter temperature fluxuations. The decrease in these levels of harmful compounds also decreases the previously mentioned PM2.5 health risk of people living in the city. 2013 reported that improved air quality contributed to 1,600 fewer asthma related emergency visits to the hospital occurred, as well as 780 fewer deaths per year (Earth Institute, 2016). This means detrimental health affects that have caused any serious damage in the citizens of New York City have dropped drastically from previous years, and if the city continues to lower its sulfur dioxide level, reports of air pollution related health symptoms affecting lives, and taking some will also continue to drop.

While NYC is taking steps to reduce air pollution and its affects on New Yorkers, it still holds as one of the most affected cities by air pollution in the United States. Air pollution is not an issue that can be solved easily, nor can it be reversed once it has been done. The environment cannot recover from the damages of air pollution and global warming, just as victims of air pollution can never fully recover in some extreme cases. Air pollution is an issue in every day life not only in New York City, but in the entire world. NYC is one of the most polluted cities in the U.S., but many other countries are in even worse conditions. While air pollution is almost invisible in New York, in cities like Beijing smog, a haze mixture of various different pollutants, takes over the streets, as well as the lungs, hearts, and respiratory systems of many residents there. Air pollution is not restricted to a certain place. Both air and its pollutants travel and spread into neighboring areas all around the world and affect people all around the world. Even though there is now way to reverse the damages that have already been caused to the environment, we can be sure to do all that we can to ensure that we contribute to air pollution as little as possible, and spread awareness on this invisible predator.

Sources

#analyze the issue #fyw #air pollution

allthecanadianpolitics

Canadian company which started out as a joke bottling Rocky Mountains air has seen its product fly off the shelves in pollution-hit China, with first shipment selling out in four days

A Canadian start-up company bottling fresh air from the Rocky Mountains has seen sales to China soar because of rising pollution levels.

Vitality Air was founded last year in the western Canadian city of Edmonton but began selling in China less than two months ago.

“Our first shipment of 500 bottles of fresh air were sold in four days,” co-founder Moses Lam says in a telephone interview with the Telegraph.

A crate containing 4,000 more bottles is making its way to China, but he says most of that shipment has been bought.

A 7.7 Litre can of crisp air taken from Banff National Park in the majestic Rocky Mountains range sells for roughly 100 yuan (£10), which is 50 times more expensive than a bottle of mineral water in China.

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