Friday, October 18, 2013

Air Pollution Kills

1. http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/national/who-agency-air-pollution-causes-cancer/nbQy7/


2. Category of Problem/Issue: Environmental

3. Level of Problem: National/Worldwide

4. The article concerns:
-The International Agency for Research on Cancer declares that air pollution indeed does cause cancer.

5. Why is this important to individuals/families OR How does it affect individuals/families?
-Air pollution is a serious problem to everyone who breathes AIR, especially those who live in cities. Now that there is proof of a link to air pollution and cancer, families and/or individuals might be motivated to make positive environmental changes.

6. What are your views on the issue/problem?
-Initially, I was surprised that air pollution wasn't already "officially" declared as a carcinogen. I always assumed that if air pollution was depleting the ozone layer that it was obviously detrimental to our health? Regardless, I'm glad that this has brought attention to the public and this might motivate people to be more aware of the pollution we create.
The complicated part of this problem is finding a solution, if there even is one. There isn't a way back track the damage we've done, but hopefully there are ways of contributing to a positive change. One way would be by switching hybrid or electric cars, but it would take serious federal policies to be put in place in order to forbid people to not drive ridiculously big trucks (good luck trying to do that in Texas).
The article does mention that air pollution has been greatly reduced since the Clean Air Act, but there are always stories popping up about big corporate companies being dishonest in regards to being environmentally responsible. These companies are able to get away with these things because of the amount of money they have, giving them plenty of power to get away with breaking the rules. 

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