A recent news article from Bloomberg talks about how extreme the air pollution in Shanghai is right now.  The country is taking actions on reducing the vehicles on roads and the productions in factories to prevent the haze level from increasing.  Because of the hazardous level of smog in the city, economical and health problems arise.

People walking on streets need to wear face masks to protect themselves from the heavy smog that can cause serious diseases such as lung cancer.  People were advised to stay indoors as much as possible.  Some flights were even cancelled due to the thick haze surrounding the city.

What about Philippines?  Our country may not be experiencing extreme pollution as what Shanghai is facing today; but who knows in the next years, we may face the same situation.  People who’ll live in future generations will be the ones much affected.  They have no choice but to endure the pollution we had caused.

Precautionary measures may be helpful but this does not solve the problem entirely.  Wearing a face mask lessen the polluted air you inhale, but does not protect you completely.  Staying indoors most of the time may be possible, but you also need to be exposed to the outside world to observe, learn and understand the world better.

In the small things we do, we can altogether make a big difference.  We can start by utilizing public transportation.  If we were to ride a jeepney instead of our own private vehicles, there would be at most less seventeen cars on the road, given that eighteen people ride a jeepney.  In this way, there will be less pollution and at the same time less traffic on the road. 

Let us not wait for our environmental problems to worsen before we take actions.  

Source: Bloomberg News

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