Air Pollution

Air pollution is a major problem causing harm to our planet. It comes from both natural sources, like forest fires, and man-made sources, like plastics and chemicals. The main cause is burning fossil fuels, which releases carbon dioxide and contributes to global warming. Global warming leads to climate change, longer summers, more powerful storms, and the melting of glaciers. Air pollution also affects our health, causing serious breathing problems and contributing to 7 million deaths per year. To solve this issue, we can use public transportation, carpool, plant trees, reduce energy use, and encourage renewable energies. We all need to take steps to protect our air and repair the planet. ------- Hello and welcome to the Eco-podcast! I am Laura. And I am Didi. And in this podcast we will be talking about our Earth, its problems and how we can solve them. Today's topic is something we have seen everywhere around the world: Pollution. Do you know that 100 million marine animals die each year because of pollution in our oceans? More than 1 billion people don't have access to clean drinking water. And 11% of human deaths are caused by air pollution. Before we can try to solve this problem, we have to understand what is it and where it comes from. So, what is it? What exactly is pollution? National Geographic defines pollution as the introduction of harmful materials into the environment. These harmful materials are called pollutants. They can come from natural sources like forest fires or from man-made sources like plastics or chemicals. While natural pollution is mostly out of our control, other forms of pollution can be avoided. These pollutants can affect different parts of the Earth. Three major types are air, water and land pollution. Today we are going to talk about what might be the most dangerous type – air pollution. Man-made air pollution mainly comes from the car engines and the factories that use fossil fuels like coal and oil. When these fuels are burned, they leave behind carbon dioxide, which drops heat in our atmosphere. This is the main cause of global warming. Since the 1800s, when humans began using a large amount of fossil fuels, the Earth's temperature has risen by 1 degree Celsius. This might not seem like a lot to you, but it is a major issue for our planet. Our climate is not supposed to change that much. You have probably noticed some of the changes yourself. Summers are longer and hotter and storms are more powerful. These are only a couple of issues caused by global warming. As the Earth gets hotter, it is more likely that forest fires and droughts will occur. The glaciers in the Arctic melt, which raises sea levels. Places that are of low altitude are at risk of being flooded. Countries like Japan and Iran could possibly be swallowed by the ocean if nothing is done. Air pollution affects us in other ways too. Cities with high populations suffer from smog contamination. Smog is a mix of smoke and fog that causes serious breathing problems. Places like New York City and Shanghai have such a big smog that sometimes residents are warned to stay inside to avoid harming their lungs. According to the World Health Organization, air pollutants contribute to around 7 million deaths per year. It is clear that air pollution possesses one of the greatest risks to live on Earth. And we must do something about it. So what do we do? What are we going to do to solve this issue of air pollution? - In Burgas, we have a very good public transportation system, which reduces the need for cars. When people travel together, it lessens the amount of emissions that pollute the air. In some places, carpooling or sharing car rides together is encouraged by the government or by companies to help reduce these emissions. - Planting trees is also a great way to help improve air quality because trees feed off carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, giving us cleaner air. - As we said before, a lot of air pollution is caused by burning fossil fuels. One of the reasons we burn fossils is for energy, like the lights in our homes. Reducing our use of energy can also help reduce air pollution. For example, you can turn off the lights and unplug the device that you aren't using. This may seem like a tiny step, but if everyone takes part of it, we will have a huge impact. - Furthermore, the government can encourage companies to use renewable energies like solar, wind or nuclear. These energies produce far less pollution than the fossil fuels. Now that we've talked about the importance of our air, what steps do you think we should take to protect it? At the end of the day, we all need to do our part to help repair the planet. Next time, we'll be talking about water pollution. See you next time, and remember, the Earth loves you, so lock her back!