Korea is suffering every day from fine dust problems. Checking the severity of fine dusts has become a daily routine and schools are having a hard time with PE tests being cancelled day after day. Korea seems to be more affected by these mysterious dusts than any other countries. Why is that?

(photo = United States Environmental Protection Agency)

Fine dusts, or particulates, are microscopic matters made mainly of and because of air pollution. Its size is 5~7 times smaller than human hair. Ultra-fine dusts are fine dusts which are even smaller than fine dusts. They are 20~28 times smaller than human hair. Fine dusts can be made naturally by mountain fire or dusts from sand storms, but they are produced even more because of our never ending developing works.

(photo = SK insight)

Fine dusts are more deadly because they cannot be seen nor felt. In 1952, about 4,000 people died in England because of smog. Fine dusts are so small that they can be absorbed though skin. They travel around our body and affect our health. They cause increase in death rate for the elderly, higher birth rate of child with disability, asthma, constant headache, atopy, dementia, stroke and all other types of illness. Researchers say that one out of 16 people die because of fine dust in the entire world. In 2013, International Agency for Research in Cancer of World Health Organization claimed fine dust as number one cancer causing matter.

(photo = brunch.co,kr)

A lot of people in Korea say that all of these fine dusts came from China and blame China. Even though this argument is true, still most of them are produced in Korea. In 2016, Korea?s time at the Environmental Crisis Clock was at 9:47, meaning ?danger.? The Environmental Crisis Clock is a survey taken by global environmental specialists and presenting its result in a form of a clock. It was started from the Rio Summit. The later that time is, the more serious the climate is in that country and the reason for the time being later is global warming.

(photo = YTN NEWS)

South Korea is the ninth biggest carbon emitter. According to an OECD report in 2016, South Korea ranked 37^th, second from the back, in ?environment? section, 26^th in ?quality of water? and the last place in ?air pollution?. Also, an Environmental Performance Index 2016 says that the air quality in Korea ranked 173^rd out of 180 countries. Statistics even claim that if South Korea cannot take care of this situation well, it would reach the last place in OECD by 2060.

South Korea has reached the 9^th place in Gross Domestic Product and is the world?s 6^th export country. We have already achieved high in economic value, as much as first world nations but have a long way to go in protecting and reviving our environment. We have developed enough. Now I think we need to pause and amend the road that we have built to come this far and start taking care of the environment.