OUR WORLD, BETTER PLACE TO BE…….??

It is in morning, I woke up early as I couldn’t stand being in bed; last night I had trouble breathing while sleeping hence blank, uncomfortable and tiresome expression on my face. I got ready for long day to work, while taking breakfast I take short glance on morning news; headlines read: world at risk as temperature increases day to day, unexpected number of forest fire outbreak, Antarctica ice depleting... no any headline gave hope or guideline on what to be done, only consequences of our past actions. I took painkillers to ease my chest pain, took my nose and mouth mask then my briefcase and left for work. Environment outside is warm, smoggy and it is hard to clearly look on other side of the road, cars are stuck in traffic and each emitting grey-black smoke, big black smoke rises from industrial park across the town and it has become hard to spot any pedestrian wearing no gas mask and no citizen would dare open his house’s window as the air inside is better than outside. This is apparently the scene we will be living in if we don’t beat AIR POLLUTION; actually some parts in the world are closer to it. Man’s greatest strength comes from realizing the consequences of decision made.

A need for a quick uplifting of national economy has led to doing everything in our human power without foreseeing the impacts of our actions to the earth. The great inventions of past times has turned out to be dangerous threats to our lives; like carpenter who made chair from  tree or industrialists who used fossil fuels as source of energy to their work. Even though this was great leap towards a civilization it became obvious that carpenters who cut down trees where only hungry for profit and didn’t care about their future generations and engineers who used coal and petroleum for energy didn’t think of a better alternative of power source which won’t send big black smoke up in skies. Now over 4 billion trees are cut down every year, most industries rely on coal among other source of energy and almost every vehicle in world runs on petroleum and locally in our homes we cook or warm our homes by burning fuels; result from the above leads to AIR Pollution, which is loss of good quality for air. Air pollution is process where air is degraded by emission of harmful substances to the atmosphere. Those harmful substances are referred to as pollutants and they include: sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, chlorofluorocarbons and volatile organic compounds.

Air pollution is perceived as modern-day curse: by-product of increasing urbanization and industrialization. According to the current status; 4.2 million deaths every year result from exposure to outdoor air pollution, 3.8 million deaths result from household exposure to smokes from burning of fuels. Deaths also include children and youth; this isn’t in line with our theme of 2019: “children and youth can bring us a sustainable future together”. We are losing efforts.

Air pollution may be visible to eye: Smog is like fog; the difference is that smog occurs when emissions from combusting fossil fuels react with sunlight unlike fog which is natural. Smog is visible in most big cities. And another pollution visible to eye is soot; this is made up of tiny particles of chemicals, smoke, dust or allergens in form of gas or solid that are carried in air. Soot is black material found in exhaust pipes and some kitchens. The tiniest airborne particles in soot are dangerous as they can penetrate lungs or bloodstream which in future may lead to cancer, heart attacks or any other diseases. Smog irritates eyes and throat and result in respiratory problems. Air may contain fatal substances such as lead which due to prolonged exposure may lead to their accumulation in body hence being lethal. This links air pollution to the increased rates of cancer, heart diseases, stroke and respiratory disease (asthma or bronchitis).

Carbon dioxide is just harmless gas in atmosphere, until it is associated with burning of fuels in planes, cars or power plants. With other greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide trap heat in atmosphere and contribute to climate change. Greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, methane, chlorofluorocarbons and sulphur dioxide among others. sulphur dioxide (from industries, high power cars or volcanic eruptions) one of the components of smog, is primary cause of acidic rain hence depleting the soil’s fertility and promoting desertification. Those gases alter ozone layer capacity hence allowing more sunlight to reach earth thus increasing temperature.

The world is ours to live in; we don’t have to be bystanders as it gets destroyed. Even though they are laws in place to control industries emission they must be strictly enforced and followed. I encourage homes to use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) instead of charcoals or firewood for cooking and government institutions and concerned Non government bodies are to ensure the awareness and the easy access to LPG as it releases low proportion of carbon dioxide. The world is encouraged to go for renewable source of energy such as solar energy and hydroelectric power. I also encourage people to make good choices and ride to work or take public transportation instead of having everyone buying cars; if not, use cars with LPG as fuel or electric cars. Plant trees locally so as purify air. Buying your needs locally cuts down fuels burned in flying your orders in from across the country. All citizens across the world should have the sense of responsibility over the earth as it is our motherland hence we are to do whatever we have in power to protect earth and ensure sustainability of our development. Governments are to ensure awareness of air pollution to population and as youth; we are the tomorrow hence it’s our main goal to shape our future or we will end up in gas masks every morning. Make world better place to be.