Polluted air: What’s it good for?! A better question would be: How can air pollution best be mitigated?
Background
Besides the worldwide increase in pollution levels and the alarming rate at which those are increasing, it is of extreme import to also point out the rate of the rise in corresponding early deaths on account of the air nemesis – which, by the way, has been quite rapid. In 2000, the number of early deaths attributable to atmospheric poisoning was an estimated 800,000. In 2012, meanwhile, according to the World Health Organization, that number increased to somewhere in the neighborhood of 7 million – a 775 percent increase in 13 years.
With this in mind and especially with Air Quality Awareness Week 2014 fast approaching (kicking off Apr. 28th), this brings to the top of mind matters having to do with air quality regulation and awareness.
Importance of regulating air
Fundamentally speaking, a person would expect that subsequent to enacting air pollution regulations, laws, rules or legislation – take your pick – improvement in the quality of the air would follow. That would seem to me to be a reasonable assumption.
But, enactment of such laws alone is not always adequate. There must also be compliance. In order to ensure compliance, enforcement of said laws, etc. goes without saying, or one would think it would. And, as we all know, in this regard, a regime on this order is only as strong as its weakest link.
So, in looking at the full spectrum of conditions or ingredients in this mix, there is some element to this equation that is either sorely lacking or completely absent – one or the other. Either way, something’s amiss.
And, this is exactly where air awareness comes into play and can help in picking up the slack.
Air awareness support
Now on to the matter of air awareness. One example of support is Air Quality Awareness Week (AQAW). Such being a pointed reminder of that, there is much more to this than just being cognizant of the fact, meaning, just to know that such a thing exists, obviously, is of limited value. Moving beyond the recognition part, it is important the following message be driven home: and that is, to never lose sight of the reason for AQAW’s existence; this, of course, being polluted air and how damaging, harmful or hazardous this can be and oftentimes is.
That said, this is also a call to action as in encouraging participation in terms of getting on board or getting with the program, if you like, if having not done so already.
Activities, tips
In recognition of this five-day “atmosphere-attention-focusing-and-attention-grabbing-vehicle,” so to speak, beginning Mon., Apr. 28th and ending Fri., May 2nd, numerous pollution-reduction activities are planned. For more information, see the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) “Upcoming State and Local Air Quality Awareness Week Activities” page as well as the EPA’s main AQAW overview page.
Moreover, as it happens, Michaela Fyfe, a commenter to the “Air Awareness Week, Earth Day and more planet-helping ideas” post offers several suggestions for air improvement.
– Alan Kandel
I think the compaign is very important in reducing the number of deaths resulted from the severe air pollution that we experience now. One way of reducing pollution is by providing information to the people which is what the awareness is about. In the long run people has to practice doing things in more efficient ways and continue to research on pollution-free resources which will save our environment and living organisms as well.
The massive change in climate within such a small period of time probably resulted from the high increase in human population which puts more pressure on the environment. My suggestion is the awareness may include the birth control, which is a good way of regulating the human population.
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In my opinion air pollution awareness week is crucial world wide, because it inform populations regarding this phenomenon. I would suggest that there must be made use of more than one awareness raising method e.g. newspapers, internet, local televisions and radio announcements as various individuals may not have access to all the methods used.
Furthermore, legislations’ effectiveness/appropriateness should be evaluated and adjusted according to the outcomes. The enforcement should be supported on a high level and executed by competent law enforcers.
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I absolutely agree with this blog.It is shocking how the rate of death caused by air pollution has increased over the years. A program such as this can help to reduce the effects of this enviromental problem. To also come up with suggestions on how to help reduce the cause of this death is to give awareness through more education to the people.Another way is to forcefully enforce the laws that act against air pollution.This program can also extend the campaign from only a week per year to serveral weeks a year.The activities done during the five days of Air Quality Awareness Week can also be encouraged to the people who attend to apply them to their daily lives for the rest of the years to come.And the people who do not know about this program should be told about it and engage.I hereby support this program and wish for it to grow.Programs like this deserve rewards to keep on going.
This air awareness can be of better purposes because most of people even now still not aware of air pollution and the effects of it.
Before reading this blog post, I did not even know about the Air Quality Awareness Week. I find it truly shocking that media nowadays is more focused on publishing something that will make their sales go up, rather than informing society on something that affects us all, and also the lives of future generations to come.
Thank you for this informative article and I hope we can make this more than just a week, but something we keep in the back of our minds every day, to conserve and keep clean the air be breathe.
I definitely support this Air Quality Awareness project because everyone of us contribute to air pollution without actually realizing it. Think about how different people including yourself contribute to this type of pollution and then try to find out different ways in which you can reduce that. This is where the Air Quality Awareness project will play a major role, I think this campaign will create a wake up call to those who lack knowledge and will result in good consequences.