Nowadays, most Koreans are living in “fine dust,” and our concern for it grows bigger and bigger. Fine dust is caused by many factors, but instead of focusing on the causes, I would like to focus on its dangerous consequences. We have to know the dangers of fine dust specifically and find proper, viable solutions. Taking a page from the book of other countries that have suffered from it before will be useful for us. Previously, people called a murky sky ‘smog,’ and focused on pollutants. Recently, however, we focus more on the particle size, and of course pollutants too.
Fine dust itself is pretty threatening and is especially pernicious for the respiratory system of our bodies. It can provoke a minor cough or even more difficulty breathing, like asthma. The longer you are exposed to the air with fine dust, the more seriously your lungs will be damaged, and the possibility of arrhythmia will increase too. In addition, fine dust is known to be bad for our skin and eyes. It can cause allergies, dermatitis, and moreover, eye diseases.
If fine dust combines with airborne pollutants, what is called smog, it can be more harmful than we think. In London in the 1950s, air pollutants produced by factories and fine dust made the misty monster known as “The Great Smog of London.” It killed about 12,000 people. Also, in Los Angeles, California, smog has been a recurring problem for the last 30 years. Recently, the fine dust problem has become a very tough to handle, especially in Beijing, China. The fact that Chinese people get text messages warning of fine dust everyday from their government testifies its seriousness on a nationwide scale. However, Chinese people’s deep concerns about it recently lead their government to take the necessary steps to battle it. Similar to China, the United Kingdom and the United States have also been grasping for an answer to the fine dust problem. For instance, the UK enacted a law on the management of factory pollutants, and the US has made big efforts to produce electric cars as a way of reducing emissions.
We are all apprehensive about the future when fine dust turns into smog in Korea. If so, the vulnerable elderly and children will suffer the most, and the damage will grow more serious at all levels of our nation beyond our control. If we truly want to lead a healthy life, we must prevent such a catastrophe beforehand, not only by referring to the examples from other countries, but by contriving innovative means that are adequate to execute in our own nation.
저작권자 © 영남대학교 언론출판문화원 무단전재 및 재배포 금지
