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: Hello, everyone. Welcome to Teen Talk. Im your host, John Lee.

The topic today is Air Pollution, and here to talk about it is Dr
Hamzah Majid, an environmental scientist at the University of

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Malaya. Good morning, Dr Hamzah.

: Good morning, John.
: Doctor, what is air pollution and what causes it?
: Well, John, air pollution means that there is something in the air that
we dont want. As you know, the air we breathe already contains
several gases such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen and a few
other gases. The problem of air pollution comes when unwanted

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chemicals are released into the air.

: Unwanted chemicals, Doctor? Can you give me an example?
: Well, ozone is one example. Ozone is a poisonous gas that can

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cause breathing problems. Its very bad for asthma patients.

: These unwanted chemicals in the air. I suppose you could call them

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pollutants.
: Yes, pollutants, because they pollute the air.
: Where do these pollutants come from?
: Mostly from motor vehicle exhaust, factories and power stations.
: Imagine that! My little car pollutes the air.
: Yes, in fact cars are the worst source of the air pollution because

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there are so many of them.

: Besides giving us breathing problems what are the other effects of

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air pollution?
: Well, people who are exposed to very polluted air can develop heart

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disease and lung cancer.

: Gee, that sounds awful. What about the environment, Doctor? How

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does air pollution affect it?

: Well, air pollution causes acid rain.
: Oh, so acid rain is caused by air pollution.
: Absolutely. Air pollution also contributes to global warming and

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harms the ozone layer in the atmosphere by making it thinner.

: Air pollution sounds like a serious problem.
: Yes, it certainly is.