Air pollution is a serious problem our planet is facing. Share this with your kids to learn what air pollution is, some common pollution sources, and how children can help fight for clean air.
What is Air Pollution?
Air pollution happens when harmful gasses enter the air, polluting it and making it dirty for us to breathe.
When you have a messy room, you can see it, but when the air isn’t clean, you cannot notice it so quickly. That’s because air pollution comes in the form of tiny particles in the air that are invisible to the naked eye and can negatively affect life all over the world.
Some sources of air pollution come from natural sources, such as forest fires, dust storms, and volcano eruptions.
But sometimes, humans are to blame for air pollution too. Human-caused air pollution comes from airplanes, cars, power plants, factories, and chemicals.
Effects of Air Pollution
Air pollution is very bad for animals, plants, and humans. It makes people sick and unable to breathe, and can cause different diseases, even to pets! Children, older people, and people with allergies and asthma are much more vulnerable to getting sick when polluted air.
If the air quality is bad outside, you can’t play in the backyard, ride your bike, or meet your friends outside. You can get sick more easily, as well as your family and friends.
What Can You Do To Help
Here are some things you can do to keep the air clean:
- You are helping reduce air pollution anytime you use less energy, like gasoline or electricity. You can do this by not leaving your TV or computer on when you’re not using it or by turning off the lights when you leave a room.
- Not driving cars is also very helpful, so talk to your parents about carpooling with friends, walking, taking a bus/train, or using your bike more often to go from one place to another.
- Ask grown-ups to help you plant a tree. Trees absorb pollutants from the air and keep the air clean.
- Check the air quality using AirCare, and enjoy playing outside only when the air quality levels are safe.
Do you want to know the quality of the air you breathe? Download AirCare – our free mobile app that tracks air pollution from your pocket, and check out the AirCare blog!
