Fighting for Air

By: Brita Belli

All of this climate change is really affecting of people's breathing around. (Belli) All of this change is leading to more ozone, more pollen, and more asthma. There have been reports from Bridgeport, Connecticut that people have been saying that they have trouble breathing. Jalyssa Moore from Connecticut is on a couple different inhalers and she needs to use it when there is cold air, weather changes, illness, and many allergies. (Belli) "The steroid-based inhalers have left Jalyssa with some muscle weakness that Kesher (mother of Jalyssa) says has been challenging. She has low upper body strength and low muscle strength in her legs". (Belli 1). 

"African-American children have the highest rates of asthma in the U.S., with 21% under the age of 18 having been diagnosed according to the most recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hispanic children are the next most impacted, with 15% diagnosed compared to 12% of white children". (Belli). As you can see this is a huge issue and all of this money spent from these parents are coming out of their bank accounts and poor families just simply cannot pay for it. In addition, there are problems with public housing because of the mold, dust, mice and others that can really affect these children's asthma. Not only are these children affected from these different households, there is so much nitrogen dioxide in the air from power plants, factories that causes a lot of symptoms like coughing, chest pain, and shortness of breath. (Belli) The warm air is especially making the air even worse because of the sun resulting in more nitrogen dioxide. What we really need to do is better use our technology to help make our air healthier. (Belli)


http://www.emagazine.com/magazine/fighting-for-air