AIR POLLUTION CAUSED

BY VEHICLES
Salma Shalaby & Gina Ashraf
Background

In the early 1960s, Egypt like many developing countries at that time experienced a
shift from an agricultural based to an industrial based economy and the first
completely Egyptian car was produced. And the automotive industry grew
exponentially ever since.
The air pollution in Cairo is a matter of serious concern. The air quality in downtown
Cairo way below the acceptable world standards. Cairo has a very poor factor
because of lack of rain and its layout of tall buildings and narrow streets, which
result in bad ventilation and consequently trapping pollutants.
Refrences: According to autoarabia
Air Pollution:

Our main disadvantage is Air Pollution: Motor vehicles account for 34 percent of
nitrogen dioxide released into the atmosphere which is a cause of acid rain and
increases the growth of algae.
They also account for 51 percent of the carbon monoxide which is a poisonous gas
capable of causing death in large doses and headaches, loss of breath.
10 percent of the particulate which is called soot, which causes haze and pollutes
ground water.
And 33 percent of the carbon dioxide which is a major contributor to global warming.
Refrences: An article The Environmental Disadvantages of Cars on It Still Runs
website
Solutions

Not every family member should own a car

Encourage Startups such as raye7 for carpooling to minimize people to use their
cars. For example, if several people are living in the same place and are going to the
same place they can share a car.
Unlike Egypt, in Europe and other countries, electric cars exist now. So we can
encourage automotive companies in Egypt to start introducing these cars in Egypt in
order to replace the cars we use right now.
Exhaust-Filtering Tube can be used to reduce pollution which is a disposable device
that is attached to the end of the exhaust pipe of a car to reduce its carbon dioxide
emissions.
Reflection Paper
When told that our next assignment would be trying to photograph an environmental problem, my
partner Salma and I thought it would be really effective and interesting to raise awareness about the air
pollution problem we are facing in Egypt specifically in Cairo.
We wanted to reveal the scars humans leave behind them and the environmental damage we are doing
to our planet.
We went to the most crowded places near our homes and we werent surprised to see that the
assignment was more than easy to capture because pollution existed everywhere around us.
We thought we could park on a lively road and that we could get out of the car and wait for the perfect
shot. Unsurprisingly, of course we couldnt. We couldnt help but notice the very disturbing comments
we heard and the way people looked at us was really irritating as well. I dont like to be the center of
attention, it puts me under pressure and it makes me concentrate less and I really wanted to focus on
the assignment and not worrying about the next comment I was going to hear. So of course, after
getting exposed to this kind of irritation we were forced to photograph while staying in our cars.
Another problem we faced was that we had to take the pictures while the cars were moving and in order
for us to capture the photos we had to be moving ourselves. And since the focus was not automatic we
had to do it manually just like we learned in class, it was really challenging to focus on a moving car.
I was really frustrated, we had to drive to
catch the vehicles which were emitting
the smoke, adjust our shutter speed and
aperture each and every single time we
entered a new street (because of the
change in sunlight) and adjust the focus.
There was so much to do at the same
time and while trying to adjust all of these
things we still had to capture the best
photos. One of the photos we took was
really good and reflected the pollution
clearly but unfortunately it was a bit out
of focus because of the struggle of
movement.
It was really challenging because we had to position ourselves in a place where our view
of the vehicles was not obstructed by any other vehicles. This was really hard because
we couldn't actually control the vehicles moving on the streets at that time. After
finishing the assignment, I felt really dizzy and that I was going to throw up because of
the smoke I got to inhale for 4 continuous hours. This was not an enjoyable assignment
whatsoever and it made us realize how dangerous and bad the situation we were not
aware of might be, that we are destroying our planet and most importantly destroying
ourselves.
References

Brugge, D., Durant, J. and Rioux, C. (2017). Near-highway pollutants in motor vehicle
exhaust: A review of epidemiologic evidence of cardiac and pulmonary health risks.
It Still Runs | Your Ultimate Older Auto Resource. (2017). The Environmental
Disadvantages of Cars. [online] Available at: https://itstillruns.com/environmental-
disadvantages-cars-7635492.html [Accessed 15 Oct. 2017].
Egy.com. (2017). HISTORY OF MOTORING IN EGYPT, March 2, 1997. [online] Available at:
http://www.egy.com/historica/97-03-02.php [Accessed 15 Oct. 2017].
Pollution in Egypt. Cost of Living
The World Air Quality Index project. World Health Organization: 2014 Air Pollution
Ranking. Aqicn.org, 15 May 2015
Hassanein, Salah. Air Pollution in Cairo - The Cost. Air Pollution in Cairo - The Cost
Thank you!