A Darkening World
Memories of childhood are riddled with endless trips to the canyons. One in particular I can remember waking up to a delightful ora of sunlight along with the soft breeze of clean mountain air. This was one of my favorite part about going to the mountains, it was an escape from the confusion and hectic city life I was use to. It was on this trip I remember looking out the window just before entering the canyon opening to see an enormous wall of dark grey smog separating the polluted skies of the city and the blue skies of nature. As we entered into this unimaginable smog it engulfed our car with a fog so thick it seemed like we could grab hand fulls of it.
This is an image of Salt lake City, Utah. Illustrating the immense amount of inversion that is polluting our skies here at home.
All I could think about was how grateful I was that no matter how bad the air is in the city there was a place with clear clean air. It was at this moment I asked my dad why the smog just stopped in front of the canyon and didn’t enter? His answer became in my eyes a true superpower, he said “ son mother nature is a strong force, one not to be reckoned with. She is strong enough to hold back the the disgusting air that consumes the city, but for how long. That much is up to you, you have the power to stop the smog completely just by not adding into it.” Honestly back then these words just flew right past me and definitely came across as very cheesy, but the more I thought about it and began to realise the true effect pollution was having on our ecosystem. I knew it was of the utmost importance and should be taken seriously.
Today pollution has numerous fronts whether it’s being caused by mining companies, transportation, industries, or over-consumption of natural resources we need to fight it head on. According to the Worldwatch Institute, “More than a billion people live in communities that do not meet World Health Organization air quality standards.” The worst part is that this is an ever growing number and if not taken care of the lives of our future generations will be greatly affected, especially since we are seeing the effects today. Right now we live in a world that is willing to destroy the world to create an easier one. Maybe it’s unrealistic to think that society can change and become more aware of the issue in front of them, but that is no excuse to end the fight. The new consensus should be more bent on taking care of the world instead of taking from the world. The graph below shows the effect air pollution is having on the people in the UK. With these kinds of issues happening in just one area of the world it's hard to imagine the effect it’s having across the world.
Sourse
-
Air Pollution Now Threatening Health Worldwide (http://www.worldwatch.org/air-pollution-now-threatening-health-worldwide)
-
Tu, Chau. "Picture of the Week: Utah Inversion." Science Friday. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Aug. 2017.
-
Spiegelhalter, David. "Does air pollution kill 40,000 people each year in the UK?" David Spiegelhalter. N.p., 21 Feb. 2017. Web. 01 Aug. 2017.
