Airpocalypse — A Wake-Up Call to All

       Donned gas masks and locked themselves indoors, residents in Beijing might echo with the term “airpocalypse”, which has been widely and fittingly applied to Northern Chinese residents. City born, city bred, I could personally relate to some popular joke when I saw the high-rise shrouded by the thick smog with the silhouette of the building recedes into darkness. The suffocating smog plagued by industrialization contribute to potential health hazards, depression and may even serve as a catalyst for artistic creations.
     First and foremost, the heavily-polluted air has posed detrimental hazards to the human body. Call it ignorance or arrogance, regrettably, it was not until the surging incidence of pneumonia that we had become aware of the dire pollution. The particulates resulted from the incomplete combustion in engine, road dust, and wood smoke prove to be harmful, if not lethal, to our respiratory system. Consider, the Great Smog that hit London in December, 1952 when 4,000 people died prematurely, and 100,000 more were made ill within four days of “airpocalypse”.
     Furthermore, recent studies have linked the four air quality to depression. One may regard the increase of “the smog blues” as a result of the sombre sky. Some patients, especially those with depression, have seen their condition worsen after exposure to smoggy weather. What’ worse, the depression also brings about the lack of energy, increased need for sleep.
     Despite these depressing effects, the hazy smog, as it were, trigger artistic creations. The foggy Victorian London remains a perdurable backdrop of the tales of mystery and crimes. As you open the novel of Bleak House, the greasy and murky odor instantly come over you. Moreover, no representation of Sherlock Holmes or Jack the Ripper would be so intriguing without the blackish smog.
     Mysterious the smog may appeal to some artists, it would be injudicious for us to overlook the dire consequence it exerts. As the foul air hit the city with more frequency, more preventative measures should be taken to better our environment for generations to come.

Airpocalypse — A Wake-Up Call to All

Donned gas masks and locked themselves indoors, residents in Beijing might echo with the term “airpocalypse”, which has been widely and fittingly applied to Northern Chinese residents. City born, city bred, I could personally relate to some popular joke when I saw the high-rise shrouded by the thick smog with the silhouette of the building recedes into darkness. The suffocating smog plagued by industrialization contribute to potential health hazards, depression and may serve as a catalyst for artistic creation.
First and foremost, the heavily-polluted air has posed detrimental hazards to the human body. Call it ignorance or arrogance, regrettably, it was not until the surging incidence of pneumonia that we had become aware of the dire pollution. The particulates resulted from the incomplete combustion in engine, road dust, and wood smoke prove to be harmful, if not lethal, to our respiratory system. Consider, the Great Smog that hit London in December, 1952. Four thousand people died prematurely, and one hundred thousand more were made ill within four days of “airpocalypse”.
Furthermore, recent studies have linked the four air quality to depression. One may regard the increase of “the smog blues” as a result of the sombre sky. Some patients, especially those with depression, have seen their condition worsen after exposure to smoggy weather. What’ worse, the depression also brings about the lack of energy, increased need for sleep.
Despite these depressing effects, the hazy smog, as it were, trigger artistic creations. The foggy Victorian London remains a perdurable backdrop of the tales of mystery and crimes. As you open the novel of Bleak House, the greasy and murky odor instantly come over you. Moreover, no representation of Sherlock Holmes or Jack the Ripper would be so intriguing without the blackish smog.
Mysterious the smog may appeal to some artists, it would be injudicious for us to overlook the dire consequence it exerts. As the foul air hit the city with more frequency, more preventative measures should be taken to better our environment for generations to come.