Shannon DeWitt
This month a six-month trial began which will determine if sections of two of London's busiest streets will begin getting treated with a Calcium Magnesium Acetate solution to aid in reducing air pollution in the area. The solution would make pollutants from vehicle exhaust literally stick to the streets to prevent them from entering the air. There have been criticisms, however, that this may not be the right direction to take in the battle against pollution. Simon Birkett, founder of Campaign for Clean Air in London (CCAL) argues that the sticky streets will only be offsetting the problem rather than creating a solution. "What we also need to do is have boiler scrappage scheme and a big campaign to build public understanding of the problems, because you actually want people to mitigate and adapt. People should use public transport or walk and cycle rather than drive where possible."After all, approximately 50,000 deaths are attributable to air pollution in the UK every year, and the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates two million deaths each year worldwide.
Simon Birkett said it clearly when he said we need a big campaign to build public understanding of the problems. Only after this is done can any real progress be made. Applying a sticky solution to the streets to catch the pollutant particles would simply move the pollution from the air to the ground or possibly the water after rain washes the pollutants off the streets. If more people were aware of the dangers they were causing the earth and to themselves then perhaps we could work together in a social movement to change our way of life or the products we choose to use. Then we would be fighting the source of the pollution instead of trying to find a less immediately threatening way to store the pollution.
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/11/19/london.pollution.sticky.roads/
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