Worldwide Pollution

by Allison Lucas

Pollution in Guwahati, India

Table of Contents
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)

Introduction
Pollution
Marisol Becerras Story
Marisols Map
How You Can Help Reduce Pollution
Other Facts You May Not Have Known About
Pollution
7) Conclusion
8) Credits

Introduction
Pollution is a serious issue worldwide, and for manyreasons.Most
air pollution is caused by burning fossil fuels, including coal, oil, natural
gas,andgasoline.Inthisarticle,Iwillexplainhowateenactiviststopped
pollutioninherneighborhood,whilemakingadifferenceworldwide.Iwill
alsotellyouhowyoucanpreventpollution.Sositback,relax,andenjoy!

Pollution
What is pollution, you ask? Well,
pollution is
the presence in or

introduction into the environment of a substance or thing that has

harmful or poisonous effects. In other words, our environment is
pollutedwhenitgetscontaminatedbyharmfulmaterials/substancessuch
as waste or chemicals. There are three main types of pollution (water,
land, and air), but there are many other types, such as soil, noise,
radioactive, thermal/heat, light, garbage, etc. All of these types of
pollution

have

effects

on

environmental degradation, human

health, global warming, ozone layer
depletion,

infertile

land,

etc.

Pollution Statistics provided by the

WHO show that cities in China and
India have the worst PM2.5

/PM
PM2.5

are tiny particles in the air
10 rate.
that reduce visibility and cause the air to appear hazy when levels are
elevated. This basically meansthatPMis
particulatematter
(material
floatingintheair),whichmakestheairdustyandyoureyes

Marisol Becerras Story

As a child, Marisol Becerra grew up in
Little Village, Chicago. She really hated her
neighbor, a coalburning power plant. He
always let bad air in her yard and never
allowed her to cross his lawn to see her
friends living on the other side of him. His
chimneywason24hoursaday,whichmade
the air a slight gray color (which is why she
called him a cloud factory). Over time, Marisols
sister
becameasthmaticandhermomdevelopedrespiratoryproblems,all
because of a careless neighbor. She had other neighbors too, a
steeldrum reprocessing facility and a federal Superfund site. They were
just as bad to live around as the plant, if not worse. None of them
seemed to noticehowdangeroustheirchemicalemittingchimneyswere.
After Marisol turned age 14, she had had enough of her absent minded
neighborsanddecidedtodosomethingaboutthesepolluters.

Marisols Map
By the time Marisol was age19,shehadfinishedcreatingavirtual
map of her neighborhood. But this map was no ordinary map, oh no, it
was a special map that showed residents in LittleVillagehowclosethey
were to the dangerous polluting factories, and the areas that faced no
danger at all. As a result, Marisol was nominatedfor the Brower Youth

Award by a few teens in Chicago, and there is no surprise to her being

one of the six winners of the award. "I was amazed to win this prize,"
saidtheDePaulUniversitystudent."Ihopethatthiswillhelpmeconnect
with other youth and show my project and
collaborate. I want to shut down the plant
and be able to breathe clean air."Isupport
Marisol because what shes doing can and
willsavemanylivesinthefuture,aswellas
our economy. Marisol traveled to San
Francisco, Californiaandreceivedheraward
at a ceremony for the winners, then
participated in a workshop to help further
her work. The judges were particularly
impressed with Becerras work because it
could save many lives in the future. "Marisol's project was completely
unique, and she took the initiative on her own and demonstrated
extraordinary

leadership

and

made

the connection

between

environmental justice and social justice," said Ariana Katovich, the

restoration initiatives director of the organization. Because of Marisol
Becerras work, Midwest Generations, the owner of the coal plant and
another plant close by, were getting criticized. Charlie Parnell, a
spokesmanforthiscompany,saysthefacilitiesemitfewerchemicalsnow.

How You Can Help Reduce Pollution

As you can see, pollution is not an issue to be taken lightly. Us
Americans should really take better care of the environment, even if its
justpickingupapieceoftrashandthrowingitaway,orrecyclingapiece
of paper after its been used. The US contributes to a lot of pollution
worldwide because we manufacture non ecofriendly products, litter,
dumpwasteintheocean,letfactoriesproducechemicalsintotheair,etc.
Polluting kills many animals, and some people, too. But its not just
Americans,allcountriescontributetotheworldspollution.Nexttimeyou
go to the coast, clean up a beach or street with trash in it.Thesesmall
actionscanstopbigproblemsfromoccurring.

Other Facts You May Not Know About Pollution

PollutioninChinacancauseweatherpatternsintheUS
According to the World Health Organization, 7 million babies

dieeachyearbecauseofpollutionthats1in8deaths!
The Mississippi River carries about 1.5 million metric tons of

nitrogenpollutionintotheGulfofMexicoeachyear,leavinga
deadzonethesizeofNewJersey!(Adeadzoneisanareaina
body of water, especiallyanocean,havingoxygenlevelsthat
arenotabletosupportlife.)
According to the Green Schools Alliance, Americans

manufacture 30 billion foam cups, 220 million tires, and 1.8

billiondiaperseveryyear!
Ambientairpollutioncauses6.7%ofdeathsworldwide

 56%oftrashintheUSisdumpedintolandfills,halfofitbeing

paper (which should be recycled!).Andwheredoestheother

44%oftrashgo?
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, recycling

just1tonofpapersaves3cubicfeetofspaceinlandfills

Conclusion
Terry Swearingen said, We are living on this planet as if wehave
another one to go to. I find thisveryinspirationalbecausewetakethis
worldforgrantedandtreatitlikewe
treat each other. In my research, I
learned things about pollution that I
never wouldve known if I hadnt
researched it at all. I dont think
enough peopleknowaboutthis,and
if they do, they need to speak up.
We are playing with life and death,
andifwedontbecomeadvocatesfor
whatwebelievein,ourworldandeverythinginitwillsuffer.

Credits
Bowean, Lolly. Little Village teen wins environmental activism award.
Chicago Tribune.
04 January, 2008.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2008-11-04/news/0811030281_1
_coal-plant-interactive-map-activism
Armstrong, Michael, Becerra, Marisol, Foley, LeAaron A, and Loomis,
Neil. Environmental Justice: Mapping Coal Power Plants in Illinois and
Chicago. 17 March, 2009.
http://gis.depaul.edu/shwang/cgis/Win0809_LVEJO.pdf