Community View: Take steps to slow polluted air

Editor’s note: Students in Ginny LaRowe’s fifth-grade class at Bird Rock Elementary School recently had an assignment to write a feature story about something in their community. The class members picked the four best, which the Light will publish in the coming weeks. Here’s the second one.

By Raul Jackson
Bird Rock Elementary School Student

Has there ever been a time when you look up at the sky and it’s all dirty? That is the effect of air pollution. You might not see it here much in San Diego, but in places like Hong Kong, where I spent the last four years living with my family, it can make your eyes water. And the truth is we are the ones who are creating it by throwing our waste into the air via cars, factories, and even chimneys. We are getting one step closer to putting our world in ugly smog chaos.

What’s in our air?

When you go outside and take a deep breath what are you taking into your lungs? Is it really just oxygen? That depends on the quality of the air. On a nice clear day you breathe healthy air, however, on a polluted day in Hong Kong, it can be as harmful as smoking a cigar, by just breathing needed air.

What is the cause?

In Hong Kong, air pollution is caused by people adding chemicals that are unnecessary into our air. The chemicals usually get there from the waste of large objects that use energy such as transport of gas and factories. The reason for pollution in Hong Kong is that the factories for a large proportion of the earth’s consumer products are manufactured in Guangzhou, which is just North of Hong Kong. So as you can imagine these factories produce a lot of waste, which gets carried over by the wind to Hong Kong.

San Diego – Hong Kong
Now you know how polluted Hong Kong is compared to San Diego and Guangzhou. And, did you know that Hong Kong is an island no bigger than La Jolla? However it contains a population of around 7,000,000 people. On the other hand San Diego is a lot bigger and it only contains a population of about 1,000,000 people.

Conclusion
So what do you think about pollution? Not so cool huh?

I believe that if we work together we can stop this global issue by doing small things such as using electrical cars or using heaters instead of chimneys. My classmate Aidan Mitruka states: “It affects people’s lives, not just China’s or San Diego’s but the world in general.” Remember, it’s for OUR Earth’s sake!

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