NAME: Denise M.

Madrid COURSE & SECTION: BSMA 1-3

ASSESSMENT – MODULE 4

1. Get one (1) clipping of a news report on how air pollution and water pollution
can drastically affect people’s health and the environment and explain it
briefly.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBQbt6DCxWE

This news report was posted by the page of ABS-CBN News titled “Will clear
skies prevail after the COVID-19 lockdown?” this news report is about how the air
pollution affected the Filipinos especially before the pandemic happened, also the
news report tackled what is the status of air during the pandemic which we all know
that at the beginning of the pandemic the government announced that we need to
have a lockdown so that we can prevent spreading the virus. According to the news
report that I’ve watched before, the pandemic air pollution in the Philippines is really
bad, especially in Manila where many Filipinos live in squatter areas, there’s a lot of
public transport and factories that provide bad air because of the various chemicals
from their products. In a 2018 report from Greenpeace, they said that 11,000- 27,000
Filipinos suffer premature deaths due to air pollution in the Philippines where more
than 4,000 deaths annually reported are from Metro Manila. The cause of death
ranges from lung cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and respiratory diseases, and all
of these diseases can be traced to exposure to fine particulate matter known as PM2.5
from fossil fuels. According to the news report, the experts define PM2.5 as fine air
pollutants that are invisible to our naked eye, and the people exposed to this can
cause heart and lung problems to the people, and the worst scenario is that it can
lead to death. Also, the news reporter interviewed a doctor who explained why PM2.5
can harm people. She says in the report that The International Agency for Research
on Cancer considers the PM2.5 a major cause of lung cancer because these are very
fine particles that can pass through our nose hairs until it can enter our lungs. That’s
the reason why the air pollution is not really good for everyone’s health because it can
harm us.

In the clip of the news report, they said that during the pandemic which the
government announced a lockdown of some of the regions in the Philippines like
Manila that shows a response for the COVID-19 pandemic, it resulted in easing the
Philippine capital’s notorious air pollution levels. According to Airtoday.ph’s monitoring
station in Quezon City in the Northern part of Metro Manila in April, the level of PM2.5
in Metro Manila decreased compared to air quality data taken in January. So, for the
experts they said that this data only shows that an improvement in air quality is directly
the product of the 6-week long lockdown that happened in the city. However, some of
the experts say that the lockdown that happened in Luzon and in other parts of the
country didn’t exactly solve our problem in air pollution because for them what we see
right now is just an illusion of what a better society that we can be and have. What's
happening in the moment is just an old engine where it doesn’t emit smoke because
you turned it off but eventually when everything goes back and if you turn that engine
again it means that you will still use that dirty old engine again which can still pollute
the air. The reason is that we go back to our previous lifestyle where the public
transportation will start to operate and a lot of people will be allowed to go outside
again but for the experts it’s not really the main cause of the air pollution. For them
one of the main sources is the Agricultural that commonly happens in the Central
Luzon and Cagayan Valley where farmers intentionally set crop stubbles so that they
can prepare for the next planting seasons and this practice has already been in
decade. This practice can worsen the problem of the Philippines when it comes to the
Air pollution.

Lastly, in this report news says that everyone, not only the Philippines but also
the other countries where people are in the “new normal” state since all the people
around the world are adjusting from the COVID-19 pandemic should take this
opportunity to promote more environment-friendly practices. For example, to reduce
the emission we can have an efficient mass transport system where we will reduce
the number of cars so that we can reduce pollutant concentration. It really happens
during pandemic when we are in lockdown and it shows a good result where Filipinos
living in the country’s capital region have unimpeded views of the Sierra Madre
Mountain range, a sight not seen in decades because of Manila's notoriously polluted
air. It just shows to us how our air quality has improved and somehow this experience
should be a wakeup call for us to take care of our surroundings and we should realize
that this is very important for us especially to our health.

2. List down at least three (3) solid waste management as a solution to improper
ways.

• It is a good start to make a habit to separate out all items that are
recyclable. It is important to know how to separate the recyclable things or
materials from the decomposing things since each recyclable commodity can
go directly to a recycler that can converts waste into useful products and
conserves natural resources. Also, recycling reduces the need for extracting,
refining and processing raw materials, all of which create substantial air and
water pollution. Lastly, recycling saves energy, it also reduces greenhouse gas
emissions, which helps to tackle climate change.

• Take reusable bags such as Eco bag to the grocery store or market
places instead of single-use plastic bags since plastic can cause pollution to
our environment. The reason is that plastic is produced and it's made from toxic
materials such as benzene and vinyl hydrochloride. It is destined to be toxic
from birth to forever. All those chemicals are known to cause cancer, and the
manufacturing byproducts contaminate our air and soil.

• Use food scraps and other organic waste to create a compost pile that
can help increase water retention, decrease erosion, and replace chemical
fertilizers. Also, these materials which are organic wastes can turn into a rich
form of soil that is absolutely chock-full of vitamins and can help you grow
amazing plants in any space. In addition, it can help the plant to have the power
to ward off harmful pests.

3. From your home environment, give one (1) good way manifested in your home
aligned with reducing greenhouse emissions.

Use energy-saving light bulbs (Reduce using Electronics/Electricity)

The reason is that if we use energy-saving light bulb such as

halogen incandescent, compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), and light-
emitting diodes (LEDs) can help us since it consumes a less energy
which we can use to reduces the demand from power plants and
decreases greenhouse gas emissions. Also, it can give a lot of benefits
to us such as this new version of the light bulb gives more shine brighter,
last longer, and reduce the amount of energy that's required to power
them. It is also an efficient everyday solution, lowering your electricity
bill and helping you to get more out of a common household item. Lastly,
it is also included in reducing the use of electronics since bulbs need
electricity to work like other electronics such as television, computer,
electric fan and more. One of the examples of this one aside from using
an energy saving light bulb is connecting electronics to power strips or
surge protectors and turning these off when not in use, you can greatly
reduce energy consumption. Make this practice a habit so that we can
reduce the greenhouse emission.