Air Pollution: A problematic of many cities

Day by day we are in a common space called earth, in this space we can share, learn and live but the difficult is when we don’t conscious about our role in the social dynamic, as main character that would be beneficiary or adversely affect for own acts. For this reason the ecological conscious has been consolidated like a style life, but unfortunately don´t all of us are in the same thinking, because the multinationals and large companies are indiscriminately destroyed our natural resources for make money whatever the cost. Our government has been permission without thinking in the consequences for the Colombian people. In this moment is worried the ecological situation for the illegal mining, mass production, the huge vehicles amount and the fracking, all that impairs the quality of life worldwide, the Colombia’s cities are not exception.

According to BOGOTA’S Secretaría Distrital de Movilidad (District Mobility Secretariat) In December 2013 there were 1,447,335 private vehicles registered in the city, representing a 76 percent increase in vehicles in only seven years (Americas Quarterly, 2014). This great amount of transport emissions becomes one of the main causes of contamination in the air. The dangerous concentrations of particulate matter (PM10) are firing the environmental alerts. These 3 particles are able to penetrate the respiratory system, leading to various debilitating illnesses like asthma, bronchitis and other respiratory infections. The District Secretary of Health in Bogotá has claimed that respiratory illnesses are the number one cause of infant mortality in the capital. Around 600,000 children under the age of five are treated for respiratory problems every year. For a citizen in Bogotá, finding a way to fight the damage a situation like these causes, it’s almost impossible.

On other hand, in cities like PASTO, the air pollution until now is not a dangerous problematic, but chaotic traffic is almost a synonymous of pollution not only for the vehicles but also for the deterioration of streets and roads what means too much dust and more air pollution, so this problematic could be just a matter time in PASTO, because the transport infrastructure presents cracks and deficiencies everywhere. Mobility is nothing more than a frustrated wish for all. As a result of the prevailing failures, talking about a clean model in terms of pollutants is also a dream that has not been reached. Traffic congestion is also a result of chaos and disorder and of course the environmental damage that this produces is incalculable. (Pobreza en Pasto, factor de contaminacion, 2013)

In addition, the vehicles or cars are not the only cause of air pollution, there is another reasons like industries and factories, for example in CHIQUINQUIRA there are areas that contribute the most contaminating factors to the air by emissions from fixed sources (industries), due to activities such as production of refined salt, glass, brick making, coke manufacturing, metal foundation, auto parts, clay manufacturing, others Approximately 95 tons are generated by brick and ceramic production, placing CHIQUINQUIRA within the high level contaminated areas of the CAR jurisdiction.

In 2012 according to The World Health Organization’s data the air pollution was the responsible for the death of 6.5 millions of people, it has been five years since then, and for sure now the problem is worse worldwide, the lacks in information, prevention and disinterested calm towards the topic is what is blinding us to take special treatments as citizens, there is no really a place we can hide from the air pollution we are obligated to breath every day, every moment everyone is breathing this air also everyone should be responsible for the air quality. That’s why it is important to remember that part of the solution it’s somehow in our hands too, by deciding to use ecological means of transportation, avoid the indiscriminate burning of garbage, not causing wildfires and following the laws of the acceptable condition of automobiles not for fear at the monetary consequences but the health consequences, etc. Of course, to tell you the truth, we all know that the real solution comes from the policies made by the government institutions, even when there have been some efforts and proposals, these efforts haven’t been enough, this means incompetence of the regulations or there is not attention and interest by the authorities. It is clear that Environmental Secretary and Minister are responsible to create the laws and policies that will allow the institutions to make the necessary changes to stop the gasses that produce the air pollution we are force to breath on daily bases, it is time to treat the air pollution as something serious and real in our country.

References:

Aloy, T. (2013). Speakout Advanced p 27. Expressing Opinions. ExtraVocabulary. Retrieve from http://englishadvanced2.blogspot.com.co/2013/10/speakoutadvancedp-27-expressing.html   

Lozano, Nancy, Air Pollution in Bogotá, Colombia: A Concentration-Response Approach. Desarrollo y Sociedad [Online] 2004, (September): [Fecha de consulta: 19 de noviembre de 2017] Disponible en: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=169114661004  

Puentes, J. (October, 2016). La pequeña gran mentira de la contaminación en Bogotá. [Online – El Tiempo]. Consulted and available from http://www.eltiempo.com/bogota/contaminacion-en-bogota-36856

 Whiting, K. (2014). Gasping for a Solution to Bogotá’s Air Pollution Problem. Americas Quarterly. Retrieve from: http://www.americasquarterly.org/content/gaspingsolution-bogota-air-pollution-problem