Theme ;STEM and Sustainability in Asia

We Create Revolution , Goodbye Air Pollution.

By; Nurul Asyiqin Binti Mijun

“One hundred and fifty years ago, the monster began, this country had become a place
of industry. Factories grew on the landscape like weeds. Trees fell, fields were up-
ended, rivers blackened. The sky choked on smoke and ash, and the people did, too,
spending their days coughing and itching, their eyes turned forever toward the ground.
Villages grew into town, towns into cities. And people began to live on the earth rather
than within it.” ― Patrick Ness, A Monster Calls

Was I the only survivor here? Coughing spasmodically, I peered through the darkness and the
sight that I saw sent shivers down my spine. I could not figure out exactly what suddenly happened to
me or to the world but everything became so blur, unexplainable and not clear. There were still
figures on the pavements, road kerbs and even in stalled vehicles. Moving vehicles had lifeless faces
and miserable looks. The figures eyes were listless and bodies looked numb. Staggered, I lost my best
words to portray the whole scene but they were all looked dead even they were not. They were like
the living dead or dead living. It triggered confusion in my unconscious mind as I was not able to
explain the difference. I was mesmerised by the scene before my eyes. Such a situation which never
turned up to me before. What had happened? Should I expect the unexpected things that may come
up as a critical red zone condition like in the thriller movies that I used to watch at cinema?

Then, it hit me. The Environment Department had pitched the Air Index at orange level two
hours ago. All citizens had been warned to stay indoors and not venture outdoors for “Orange” meant
“Be Prepared”. This level could go to “Red” in any minutes and “Red” would be when all hell would
break loose.

Everyone awares that air pollution was mainly caused by the emission of toxic gases from
vehicles, factories and open burning. Nowadays, there were more and more vehicles on the road as
society gets more affluent. There were two major types of air pollution; primary pollutants and
secondary pollutants. To be precised, primary pollutants enters the air directly, like smoke from
factories and car exhaust whereas secondary pollutants is chemical substances that mixed together to
pollute the air recklessly. Besides the two types of pollutions mentioned, air pollution can also come
from natural sources such as dust, wildfires, and volcanic activity. Wildfire is known to emit Volatile
Organic Compounds (VOCs) and particulates into the atmosphere. Volcanic eruptions spew sulfur
dioxide and volcanic ash into the atmosphere.

Due to these pollutions, the entire world nowadays had become horribly polluted. The populace
had to be prepared for any eventuality when the oxygen level would spell death for them due to
insufficient oxygen supply. The United Government is always ready with contingency plans to face
the worst conditions. Oxygen drills and practices had been carried out. Some people take them
seriously. But sadly, others are nonchalant. I am a skeptical yet a law-abiding citizen who always
prepares myself to any circumstances.

To combat the unfavorable implications of air pollution, a collaborative and continuous effort
from all human beings in every corner of the globe is needed to control the level of air pollution

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index. But how it should be realised? Some proactive measures must be taken. For instance, by
establishing a safety distance between the industrial estates and residential areas, motivate the use of
tall chimneys and non-combustive sources of energy, promote use of high temperature incinerators,
non-lead antiknock agents in the gasoline and re-plantation. Thus, with this ways it can improved
people’s health and country’s economy because clean air fosters healthy communities and a stronger
economy.

It was unfortunate day that I had to go on a work assignment to the other side of town couple of
weeks ago and it took me four hours to get back to my home safely. I had my mini oxygen device
with me which would only ensure a three-hour oxygen supply. At “orange alert”, no train would stop
to pick up passengers. But one had to be at the “ Safe Station” Pick-up Point.

It was one of those mishaps that could only occur once in a blue moon. Within an hour of
Orange, the Air Index hovered at Red. I slapped my forehead in abject disappointment and
desperation. I was awfully mad with this situation and force myself to focus on the close objects and
people around me although the distant objects looked blurry.

I was within five minutes of “heaven point” when the sky turned into a swirling mass of
darkness. Everyone panicked and ran blindly in all directions. I was knocked down by the mass of
human bodies. I did not realised that the worst situation was continuously damaging the whole
ecological system and affecting the lives of plants and animals as well. That was why people were
running around and tried to look for the safest place in order to help themselves continuing living. It
had reached the critical stage and affecting the whole atmosphere by allowing more harmful
radiations from the sun to the earth. Again, polluted air acts as a better insulator which prevents heat
to get escaped back into the space.

When I finally managed to steady myself, it was still dark and my first thought was, “ This is
the end !” The first sight of the prostrate bodies numbed my thoughts and limbs until I heard a
concerned voice, “Come, miss, Share my tank. I have two masks.” I peered in the smog and saw an
outreached hand of a black woman with a face mask. Thankfully, I put out my hand and together we
inhaled deeply. We were the only two survivors when the polluted city was on ‘Red”.

It was the moment I swore to myself to protect my own country, to find any solutions and to
take an action so I can bring back the fresh and clean environment to the nation and to my next
innocent generations. If we are still living in ignorance to find any solutions for this public serious
issue, there is no doubt that people will become prisoners of their own creations. We waste the
bounties of our nature without a thought that our actions caused thousands adverse impacts.

More importantly, we must deepen our knowledge of nature’s laws and broaden our
understanding the laws of human behaviour in order to deal with the matter of pollution wisely.
Hence, we need to bear in mind that environmental pollution is one of the biggest concerns caused by
human activities that we should be fully responsible and work hand in hand to overcome it to restore
ecological balance to this beautiful world that we called “home”. It is the time that we should break
the difference of perceptions, beliefs, nationalities among us to protect the water we drink, the air we
breath , and the soil we use to grow our food so that everyone would be able to see the world
tomorrow and guarantee our descendants live in a happily healthy life.