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Michael Dukatz
Professor Jennifer Courtney
English 2010
4 February 2015

Cleaning Up the Air

Poor air quality is becoming an increasing problem in the state, country, and world. It
limits what people can do, and results in major health problems, that can be long term, and
possibly result in death. With 1 in 12 Americans, which is approximately 8% of the American
population getting asthma, the importance of cleaning up the poor air quality is high. The ironic
part of poor air quality is that its caused by humans. Some people have said that the air quality
isnt that bad, and that the pollution from aerosols can eliminate carbon dioxide. Theres plenty
of work that needs to be done, however with rewards such as better quality of life and postponing
death, it is inevitable that humans will win with their efforts against air pollution. The steps that
need to be taken are tough, and the effort needed is great, however if everyone pitches in, it will
happen. With most opinions against poor air quality, theres a small percentage suggesting its
not that bad, and it benefits the planet. So the question is what needs to be done, or why such a
concern?
The effects of poor air quality are very damaging to humans. Worldwide, 300 million
individuals have asthma, with 250,000 dying prematurely from the disease. With air pollution
increasing, more cases of lung and heart diseases are being reported. According to the American
Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the amount of people with asthma will increase by
100 in 10 years (aaaai.org). Those are scary numbers that will be the beginning of a chain

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reaction to the health of mankind. More alarming than the amount of people with asthma, is the
amount of those people that are children. Over 50% of the new asthma cases reported are
children. Besides the adverse asthma effects from air pollution, another health risk can be
physiological effects. A study performed on 2,522 subjects in multiple French cities brought up
results stating the subjects had increased anxiety, which could be referred to as a decrease in
quality of life. Another disadvantage of the poor air quality is the negative effects it has on the
ozone layer. With the ozone layer deteriorating, crop yields have been getting worse and worse,
effecting food supplies in areas of the world. So now we have hungry people that cannot breathe.
Not only are we seeing health effects, and global deterioration, peoples wallets are getting lighter
because of the poor air quality. On average in the U.S., $3,300 is spent each year, per person that
has asthma. That includes lost time at work and school, medical expenses, and even early deaths.
The causes of poor air quality are contributed to power plants, factories, gas powered
automobiles, homes, and chemicals. The causes create air pollutants that are ozone, particular
matter air pollution, nitrogen oxide, and sulfur dioxide. Unfortunately these reason are all
produced by mankind. With the population increasing at an alarming rate, the need for more
resource, and the busyness of people have increased the poor air quality. In reality we still need
the things causing air pollution, but do we really need as much as were using, or could we scale
back, and take control of the problem that is effecting peoples health, and leaving future
generations with a larger problem? With a bulk of the causes being from the co2 emissions put
out by automobiles, energy used to support homes and business are not far behind. The entire
picture of causes needs to be looked at, when evaluating the areas of improvement. Eliminating
just one cause wont solve the bigger picture, but it would be a great start.

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With most things you read about air quality being negative, some have pointed out the
benefits of air pollution. According to Natalie Mahowald, a climate researcher at Cornell
University, the aerosol emitted from mostly factories, is a good thing. The results are a cooler
atmosphere, with less amounts of carbon dioxide in the air. These results have a positive
influence of the amount of oxygen plants get, and the improvement of global warming.
Many actions can be taken to eliminate poor air quality. With the advances in
technologies theres so many ways an individual can help reduce the amount of air pollution.
Little changes in peoples daily life can make such a large impact. With things as simple as
driving less, planning routes better, using public transportation, or recycling more to reduce the
energy needed to create new products. The impact of those being done by many people on a
consistent basis would be great. With majority of the pollution coming from automobiles, theres
ways to cut down those numbers. The new electric vehicles now a days are a lot cheaper, more
compatible with peoples daily lifes, and they dont look as lame as when they first came out.
Not all steps taken to produce cleaner air to breathe are difficult, and cause for huge sacrifices.
With hybrid vehicles using little gas, and electric vehicles using no gas, the amount a person
could save on gas by switching to a more air friendly vehicle could be substantial. Also with
making energy efficient changes to a home, one could save a large amount on utility bills, and
even get rebates and tax credit, resulting in more money in your pocket, and cleaner air to breath.
The greatest tool to improve the air quality is education. By educated yourself and others, new
knowledge can be obtained and used in ways that will clean up the air.
With the obvious effects to peoples health, and the nasty looking valleys flooding with
smog, it makes me wonder how we got this far on neglecting the poor air problem. It is almost
impossible to find a reason not to care, and take action on the growing problem of poor air

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quality. The knowledge we have now is greater, and theres more education about the problem.
With many groups devoted to improving air quality, and more people caring about the planet we
live on, it is inevitable that improvements are just around the corner. The resources are unlimited,
its now the peoples jobs to take the initiative to get the goal of cleaner air for current and future
generations.

Works Citied

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Deguen, Sverine, Claire Sgala, Galle Pdrono, and Mounir Mesbah. "A New Air Quality
Perception Scale for Global Assessment of Air Pollution Health Effects." Risk Analysis:
2043-054. Web. 5 Feb. 2015.
<http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.dbprox.slcc.edu/eds/detail/detail?vid=1&sid=b4a02513ce9f-4bdb-946fRaaschou-Nielsen, Ole, Zorana Andersen, Steen Jensen, Matthias Ketzel, Mette Srensen, Johnni
Hansen, Steffen Loft, Anne Tjnneland, and Kim Overvad. "Traffic Air Pollution and
Mortality from Cardiovascular Disease and All Causes: A Danish Cohort Study."
Environmental Health: 60. Web. 5 Feb. 2015.
<http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.dbprox.slcc.edu/eds/detail/detail?vid=17&sid=b4a02513ce9f-4bdb-946fSellier, Yann, Julien Galineau, Agnes Hulin, Fabrice Caini, Nathalie Marquis, Vladislav Navel,
Sebastien Bottagisi, Lise Giorgis-Allemand, Claire Jacquier, Remy Slama, and Johanna
Lepeule. "Health Effects of Ambient Air Pollution: Do Different Methods for Estimating
Exposure Lead to Different Results?" Environment International: 165-73. Web. 5 Feb.
2015.
"Air Pollution: Bad For Health, But Good For Planet?" NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2015.
<http://www.npr.org/2011/11/11/142218650/air-pollution-bad-for-health-but-good-forplanet>.
"Asthma Statistics | AAAAI." Asthma Statistics | AAAAI. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2015.
<http://www.aaaai.org/about-the-aaaai/newsroom/asthma-statistics.aspx>.
"Changes in Air Quality and Tropospheric Composition Due to Depletion of Stratospheric Ozone
and Interactions with Changing Climate: Implications for Human and Environmental
Health." Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences 14.1: 149-69. Web. 5 Feb. 2015.
<http://web.b.ebscohost.com.dbprox.slcc.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=3&sid=9cf414348c85-43e6-931a"Outdoor Air Quality." American Lung Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2015.
<http://www.lung.org/associations/charters/mid-atlantic/air-quality/outdoor-airquality.html>.