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Website Article: Easy Science for Kids, Pollution – Our Waste | This quick look at pollution includes a video
Website: NASA, Climate Kids, Atmosphere | All kinds of info & activities to find out more about air pollution
Website Article: National Geographic Kids, Save the Earth | Things you can do everyday to protect the earth.
Read the script:
AROUND THE GLOBE, THERE ARE SOME AREAS THAT ARE REALLY STRUGGLING WITH POLLUTION. POLLUTION, OF COURSE, IS SUBSTANCES ADDED TO THE ENVIRONMENT THAT MAKE IT DIRTY OR UNSAFE. AS YOU'LL SEE FROM THESE NEXT COUPLE OF STORIES, POLLUTION COMES IN MANY FORMS. NIKHIL KUMAR HAS OUR NEXT STORY.
NIKHIL: THIS IS INDIA GATE, ONE OF NEW DELHI'S MOST FAMOUS LANDMARKS. IT'S ABOUT 42 METERS HIGH, AND HERE'S WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE ON A SUMMER'S DAY. SO HOW DO YOU MAKE IT DISAPPEAR?
WELL, JUST WAIT FOR WINTER. I'M STANDING JUST A FEW HUNDRED METERS FROM THE MONUMENT, AND AS YOU CAN SEE, NOTHING. TRUST ME, IT'S RIGHT THERE, BEHIND THE THICK, DENSE, AND DIRTY HAZE. AND IT'S BEEN LIKE THIS PRETTY MUCH ALL WEEK, AS AIR QUALITY IN DELHI FELL TO HAZARDOUS LEVELS. AND RIGHT ACROSS FROM INDIA GATE, IS THE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE, ANOTHER FAMOUS DELHI MONUMENT. IT'S MASSIVE, MORE THAN 300 ROOMS. AGAIN, YOU CAN BARELY SEE ANYTHING.
AND IT'S NOT JUST WHAT YOU CAN AND CAN'T SEE. YOU CAN ACTUALLY TASTE THE FILTH THAT'S HANGING IN THE AIR. IT HITS YOUR THROAT AND IT MAKES YOU FEEL ILL. JUST ASK SHER ZING, A TRAFFIC COP WHO'S BEEN ON DUTY ALL WEEK, WORKING 12-HOUR DAYS IN THE POLLUTION.
"IT MAKES OUR EYES BURN "AND IT'S DIFFICULT TO BREATHE," HE SAYS.
THE SMOG COMES EVERY YEAR WHEN THE TEMPERATURE DROPS, WIND SPEEDS FALL, AND A MIX OF DANGEROUS POLLUTANTS SETTLES OVER THE CITY. 19-YEAR-OLD KESHOUR, ALSO SPENDS HIS DAYS ON DELHI'S CONGESTED ROADS. HE'S A STREET HAWKER. FOR HIM, POLLUTION MEANS WATERY EYES, BUT ALSO, A WAY TO MAKE MORE MONEY.
"ME AND MY FRIENDS, WE USED TO SELL BALLOONS," HE SAYS, "BUT THE POLLUTION IS SO BAD THAT WE SWITCHED TO SELLING MASKS. TWO DAYS AGO, WE GOT A THOUSAND PIECES. WE'VE ALREADY SOLD 700."
BUT IT'S NOT BEEN EASY. KESHOUR WORKS AT ONE OF THE BUSIEST AND MOST POLLUTED TRAFFIC JUNCTIONS IN THE CITY.
"BY THE TIME I GET HOME, MY THROAT AND MY EYES HURT. EVERYTHING," HE SAYS, "SMELLS OF SMOKE."
NOW, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THIS ISN'T THE WORST IT'S BEEN THIS WEEK. AT ONE POINT, THE LEVEL OF POLLUTANTS IN DELHI'S AIR, WAS ALMOST 40 TIMES WHAT THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION DEEMS SAFE. NOW, I'M IN A BUSY MARKET IN THE CENTER OF TOWN, AND I'VE GOT A PORTABLE METER WITH ME THAT TELLS ME HOW BAD THE AIR REALLY IS. BLUE IS GOOD, PURPLE IS HAZARDOUS. AND LOOK, WE'RE STILL HAZARDOUS.
RICK: THANKS, NIKHIL. WELL, IT'S NOT JUST THE AIR THAT SUFFERS FROM POLLUTION. THE SOUTH PACIFIC OCEAN IS DROWNING IN PLASTIC. FROM BOTTLES TO BINS, A GROUP OF NONPROFIT RESEARCHERS ARE STUDYING THE PROBLEM, AND LYNDA KINKADE HAS THAT STORY.
LYNDA: THE SOUTH PACIFIC OCEAN. A VAST MARINE LANDSCAPE, A PRECIOUS PART OF OUR EARTH. BUT TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AND SCIENTISTS SAY IT'S BECOMING A PLASTIC GARBAGE DUMP. CAPTAIN MOORE: HERE I AM STANDING ONBUOY ISLAND. LYNDA: MEET CAPTAIN CHARLES MOORE, FOUNDER OF ALGALITA MARINE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION, A NONPROFIT GROUP DEDICATED TO SOLVING THE SEA'S PLASTIC POLLUTION PROBLEM.
IN 1997, CAPTAIN MOORE DISCOVERED A MASSIVE GARBAGE PATCH IN THE NORTH PACIFIC. NOW HIS TEAM HAS CONFIRMED THE EXISTENCE OF ANOTHER, FURTHER SOUTH, OFF THE COAST OF CHILE AND PERU. CAPTAIN MOORE ESTIMATES IT TO BE ABOUT TWO MILLION SQUARE KILOMETERS, LARGER THAN MEXICO.
HERE'S HOW IT FORMED. WINDS AROUND A PERSISTENT HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM DRIVE OCEAN CURRENTS, CREATING A VORTEX KNOWN AS A GYRE, CAUSING DEBRIS TO COLLECT IN A CENTRAL LOCATION.
CAPTAIN MOORE: I CALL IT A PLASTIC SOUP. IF YOU THINK OF THE OCEAN AS THE LIQUID IN A SOUP, WE'VE GONE FROM CREAMY TO EXTRA CHUNKY.
LYNDA: CAPTAIN MOORE AND HIS TEAM SPENT MONTHS TROLLING THE SOUTH PACIFIC COLLECTING SAMPLES, FROM LARGE OBJECTS TO PLASTIC THE SIZE OF A GRAIN OF RICE.
CAPTAIN MOORE: THE SURFACE WATERS ARE WHERE WE SEE THE DEBRIS, AND IT IS MOSTLY PARTICULATE, THAT THE SIZE CLASS THAT'S MOST COMMON IS BETWEEN ONE AND THREE MILLIMETERS IN DIAMETER. FIND INTERESTING OBJECTS. A LOT OF TUBS THAT ARE USED IN SORTING FISH IN THE FISHERIES THAT ARE MANUFACTURED IN NEW ZEALAND. WE FOUND A LOT OF FISHING BUOYS, AND OF COURSE, THE MOST COMMON THINGS THAT WE FIND OUT THERE ARE THE FLOATING BOTTLES AND THE BOTTLE CAPS.
LYNDA: THE PLASTIC POSES A MAJOR THREAT TO MARINE LIFE. SMALL LANTERN FISH COME TO THE SURFACE AT NIGHT TO FEED ON PLANKTON. MANY EAT SMALL MICROPLASTICS INSTEAD, AND ARE THEN UNABLE TO SWIM BACK TO THE BOTTOM, THE PLASTIC ACTING LIKE A BUOY. NOT ONLY DO THESE FISH INGEST CHEMICALS FROM THE PLASTIC, BUT SO DO THE LARGER FISH WHO EAT THEM. ALGALITA MARINE RESEARCH FOUND 35% OF LANTERN FISH IN THE PREVIOUS DISCOVERED NORTH PACIFIC GARBAGE PATCH ARE EATING PLASTIC.
THE RESEARCHERS ARE NOW SIFTING THROUGH THE SAMPLES TO TRY TO GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT TYPES OF PLASTIC THEY'VE COLLECTED. BUT CAPTAIN MOORE SAYS IT'S OUR THROW-AWAY SOCIETY THAT NEEDS TO CHANGE.
CAPTAIN MOORE: WE HAVE TO FEAR PLASTIC FOR NOT ONLY WHAT IT DOES TO THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT, BUT WHAT IT'S DOING TO US. WE NEED TO FEAR IT AND WE NEED TO RESPECT IT, BECAUSE IT IS BEING TREATED LIKE WASTE, LIKE TRASH, LIKE IT'S JUST THIS WRAPPER THAT YOU THROW AWAY. AND WE'VE GOTTA HAVE A NEW ATTITUDE ABOUT THAT IN WHICH WE REALIZE THAT IT MUST HAVE AN AFTERLIFE, IT MUST BE REINCARNATED, IT MUST BE PART OF A CIRCULAR ECONOMY, OR IT'S GOING TO END UP IN THE OCEAN AND DESTROY MARINE LINE.
SO WE ARE NOW WORKING WITH PLASTIC COMPANIES, WITH COCA-COLA, WITH DOW. WE'RE WORKING DESPERATELY TO RESHAPE THE THINKING OF THOSE WHO ARE MAKING THIS STUFF, TO CREATE THIS INFRASTRUCTURE TO TAKE IT BACK, TO HAVE A CIRCULAR ECONOMY