As a teenager, I have to drive to school, sports, volunteering, and anything else that requires driving. Every time I do, I usually don’t notice this, but yesterday when driving to school, I finally began to notice something off in the air. Now, there were no flying pigs, ducks, or dogs/cats, but there was something else equally as concerning. I noticed a dark grey smoke in the air that smelled like gasoline. What is this you may ask? Well, it's smog caused by air pollutants. Yes, caused by AIR POLLUTANTS.
Air pollutants are a funny thing in this world because they are just naturally occurring elements in Earth’s atmosphere. There’s nothing special about them. Air pollutants can range from: carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone, and the list goes on. But the reason these are so special is because WE are the cause of them.
So, imagine driving to school as you do every day and you realize that the obnoxiously large smog in the air is because of you. YOUR driving is the reason we have to deal with this smog–crazy, right? But what’s even crazier is that driving is not the only reason air pollutants are in the air. These air pollutants can also be from factories, backyard fires, and even lawn-powered equipment. So, the lawn mower you used to cut your grass could have caused that smog. The fire you made to roast your marshmallows could have created this smog. The things that you wouldn’t even expect caused our air to be polluted. But why do we care? Why does this even matter? Well, that’s what I’m here to do: answer.
Air pollution is very toxic to trees and plants, and can pollute water sources as well–which comes back to hurt humans as well. But what's even worse is that air pollutants (more specifically smog) can get into your lungs and cause lung cancer, respiratory diseases, and even heart diseases. Not only that, but it can cause many more short and long-term diseases and illnesses. It’s scary to think about, but what’s even more alarming is that humans are the reason for this. We are the reason it happens and we are also the reason we can stop this from happening. As humans, we can resort to electric cars which pollute our environment significantly less (as it is not the combustion of fossil fuels). And even if we don’t have access to electric cars, by carpooling, turning off our cars, and keeping our cars in good repair we can also save us and our environment. Not only that, but we can also create fewer campfires and use environmentally friendly lawn-powered equipment (Such as Kress and Husqvarna). Not only that, but the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) is implementing specific measures to reduce air pollutants and still allow us to carry out our regular actions. They implement regulations to reduce the amount of air pollutants. They also give out grants so that other businesses, nonprofits, and etc can do cleanups and implement their projects as well.
So, at the end of the day, there are a variety of things creating air pollutants that have a lasting effect on both us and the environment. However, we can take the first step to save our environment.
Works Cited
“Air Pollution and Your Health.” National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/air-pollution. Accessed 1 March 2025.
“Our Mission and What We Do | US EPA.” Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/our-mission-and-what-we-do. Accessed 1 March 2025.
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