Nicole Hibi

4/28/15
Legacy Report
My Legacy Projects main focus is air pollution, specifically in urban
areas, which is a growing concern in our industrial forward age. Nobody is
safe from this harmful and quick-spreading form of pollution. For instance,
my own cousins attend college not to far from L.A, one of the most heavily
polluted cities in the U.S, and they constantly complain about the smog
clogging up their noses. Even my aunts and uncles are also affected as they
consistently go to heavily polluted areas such as China and I realize maybe
one day nowhere will be safe to travel for healthy air. However, its not just
my family thats affected by this problem but instead the entire world. We all
breathe the same air eventually and its up to all of us to take care of it. That
is why my solution is something almost as universal. The Internet.

My connection with the community that I have selected is that I live on

the Earth where over 7 billion other people live as well. I was born and raised
here in America where I learned that this was our planet that we had the
liberty of taking care of. This community has provided me with the food,
water and air that I need to prosper and grow in order to bring my mark unto
this earth. I cant honestly be more connected to my chosen community.
Not only am I connected to my group by place of birth but by the
family that I love who lives here too. The community of Earth has provided
me with family, friends and a unique life that certainly would not be possible

without it. Not only that but it gave me a place on this world, for instance my
home, my dance studio, schools. Im eternally grateful for a place that will
never know how much I owe it. In order to give back to community I have
made small but hopefully significant changes to my lifestyle that include
recycling, composting, using biodegradable containers and being very
careful not to litter. Not only am I connected to this group through almost
every aspect of my life, it also supplies me with one of the most vital things a
human being could possible need. Air. This is exactly why this issue is
personally important to me. The intersection between this problem and the
world I care about is right at the beginning. Air pollution affects the earth
before it affects us. I would rather not want to visit a country in which I need
a face mask just to step out my door. Its really only up to us, the citizens of
this world, to decide what happens with this steadily growing issue that will
not only give us breathing problems, but risk of lung caners and even premature death. Its a sort of mindset in my family that I want you to have a
better life than I did. However, that one day may not be the case when Im
lugging around a tank of heavily purified air thats connected to my gas
mask during a casual stroll in the park with my children plodding alongside
me. Also, I may not have asthma, but my some of my best friends do and
when the air is as polluted as smoking two packs of cigarettes, that will worry
me more than I should have to worry. Yes, there are organizations such as
the EPA working to solve this with technologies and movements, but I dont
think there are enough people behind them. Ever since I was a little girl, I

wondered what would happen to us if we tried to help something that was

too late to be fixed and that mindset has stuck like glue in my head ever
since.

The issue Im presenting in my Legacy Project is that air pollution in

urban (city and heavily populated) areas is a big issue that is rather
unnoticed and pushed over compared to more popular and recent events
such as Ebola, Isis, politics, natural disasters, popular Internet trends, etc.
However, through my research I have found that it is not an issue that should
just be brushed over by us as another thing that we should just leave to the
scientists and activists to solve. Urban air pollution is something that we see
everyday that is caused by, but not limited to: factories, car emissions,
human impulse, oil/electricity/nuclear plants and burning. Although, the
causes of urban air pollution arent just pushed to human fault but can also
be cause by total natural occurrences such as wildfires and volcanic
explosions (Harrold). Also, urban air pollution is worsened by humans as
urban areas tend to be much more heavily populated than rural areas such
as traveling in planes, increased laziness and the huge population decreases
the forests greatly and only continues to enlarge the layers of smog and
emissions being released into our air. (Causes, Effects and Solution of Air
Pollution Conserve Energy Future).
As mentioned before, cars are also to blame for air pollution, however
when put in a city setting surrounded by hundreds, possibly thousands of

other cars on crowded freeways and streets, the threat of harmful gas
emissions rises even faster, especially when condensed in the walls of
skyscrapers and tall buildings giving off their own emissions using chimneys
(Urban Environment Unit, UNEP). During my research I found out that this
issue has impacted groups in more ways than we would like to imagine.
Urban air pollution has worsened breathing problems for people with asthma,
as if it wasnt already hard enough to breathe. Not only that but it has
caused people to have asthma who were previously totally healthy. People
living with asthma already face the looming asthma attack that could come
and strike at almost anytime. Air pollution has also limited where asthmatics
can go as they have to avoid air pollution hotspots that are okay for us to
be near but could mean an untimely trip to the hospital for people that suffer
from asthma. This means that the death toll for asthma can and will rise in
the next few years or so, which means bad news for over 25 million+ people
in the world (Asthma and Air Pollution). Not only does it affect people with
asthma, but it even affects people who have totally healthy lungs that
require no help to be able to breathe. Statistics show that people who live
near high traffic roads have a greater risk of cancer, heart disease, asthma
and bronchitis because of the raised concentration of air pollution that
surround them (40 Facts About Air Pollution- Conserve Energy Future). The
consequences of this is that the original number of people with these
diseases will grow and the lives of these people will be altered forever. In
places such as China, lives are being changed everyday in sort of the same

way with a new disease that has sprung up over urban air pollution- Beijing
Cough. This sickness began in Beijing due to the obscene amounts of smog
hanging over Chinese cities, prompting a gray filter over monuments,
statues and even buildings. Soot and smog get caught in the victims throat,
making them cough and giving people lung and chest infections. ("The Truth
Behind the Infamous Beijing Cough."). Not to mention Asian countries are
reporting the most deaths over air pollution. (40 Facts About Air PollutionConserve Energy Future). It may seem hopeless but not all hope is lost for
this issue.
Currently there are many organizations and groups that dedicate
themselves to bringing awareness through commercials, protests,
advertisements, public projects, ads and PSAs. Theres also local groups such
as Puget Sound Clean Air Agency and Washington State Department of
Health that are working towards a resolve to this dire issue. Not only that,
but there are people whore trying to make a difference using their own
power such as taking the bus, biking, skateboarding, walking and running to
school, work, the store or wherever they need to go in order to reduce the
impact that driving individually has on our environment. Fortunately,
America is not the only other resource that currently exists that can be used
to demonstrate this issue. Halfway across the globe from us is China, where,
as I have mentioned before, is experiencing such poor levels of air quality
that its almost like smoking a pack of cigarettes whenever you breathe in.
China is an absolutely perfect example of what urban air pollution can turn to

here in America and soon all over the earth. However, in reaction to this
there are cars that are being produced that run off of solar and battery
power, although we are a long ways away from these cars being family
friendly and able to ride for miles without refilling. (8 Facts You Surely Want
to Know About the Solar-cars!). Even though its almost impossible for us to
revert back to the days of no air pollution, a company called Cristal is looking
towards the future with a natural technology where ultrafine titanium dioxide
(TiO2) has been demonstrated to get ride of over 90 percent of the NOx
(nitric oxide) generated by the combustion of coal, gas and other fossil fuels
that produce energy (Cristals Smart Technologies Help to Reduce Air
Pollution). Despite the causes and impacts of urban air pollution, there is
certainly hope as the future of science and technology is slowly but surely
paving the way to a resource friendly solution to it.
After seeing a healthy balance of both the positives and negatives and
problems and solution about this subject, you might be wondering what
exactly my solution for this dire problem is. Its simple. I want the word to get
as widespread as urban air pollution is. What else can rival that besides the
mighty Internet? I want to create a big viral video that demonstrates the
influence air pollution has on cities like Seattle and how it can and will
negatively affect our society and our world in the not-so-far future if we dont
watch out. I am ultimately determined that I can make a stop motion video
plastered with facts on urban air pollution. With luck, I will spread it to my
family and friends who will send it to their family and friends, etc, etc. I have

a strategy in order to reach beyond what I am expecting. This strategy that I

have is that I want the video to strike facts in peoples heads and hearts that
urban air pollution and air pollution in general is not just a silly little idea to
toy with What ifs? but instead that its a real problem that will potentially
destroy our earths ecosystem if we dont care of it soon. This heavily
involves taking advantage of the internets unbelievable power. This
generation of kids is filled with young comedians who will point and laugh at
anything theyre uncomfortable with/ think is stupid/ think is minor and
shouldnt be cared about, and I know this for certain based off of experience.
I plan to pinpoint only the most important information such as death toll and
health risks through emphasized frames such as the ones that give horror
movie trailers extra umph. Give us kids and even in most cases adults a
hard-hitting enough video and you will have them rethinking everything that
theyve ever thought. These thoughts linger with them the next time that
they miss that one single piece of plastic from going into the garbage bin.
Ripple effects and mindsets such as these start revolutions and uprisings
that can really make a difference and change the world, especially on the
Internet, which within itself is an international platform that is constantly
bringing peoples views and ideas together every second.
There are many possible outcomes that will come out of my solution,
and trust me Ive thought of almost every single one of them. The Internet is
a strange place where predicting the next trend is nearly impossible. One of
these outcomes is that it soars and takes off in a matter of hours, bringing

view after view and like after like, share after share. These things have
happened to people who would normally never suspect it. Another outcome
is it falls flat on its face the second it tries to take flight. Ive seen some
pretty spectacular YouTube videos with more than a fourth of the actual
amount of views it deserves, and with the growing population of anxious new
YouTubers coming forth in the next generation, its been tougher and tougher
to get the number of people that you deserve to watch your videos. Theres
a huge possibility that my video gets 10 views and 10 dislikes. Im willing to
work through that. I have provided a counter to this, however. I plan to send
links to all of my friends that can spread the word wherever they possibly
can and whenever they can. After all, theres great strength in numbers
right?
Now you might be thinking Im completely and totally stupid for putting
out such an idea out on the Internet where I could get criticized, mocked,
ostracized, shunned and totally dissed by anonymous others. But unless
youve been hiding under a rock for the past year, you probably know about
overnight internet sensation Psy, made famous by his catchy -yet annoyingsong Gangnam Style that broke 1 billion views on YouTube in less than a
year. Also, take for instance #thedress, the scientific eye-breaker that was on
everyones phone in less than 12 hours. And how can I not forget videos such
as What Does the Fox Say and Baby (by Justin Beiber)? These videos and
trends all relate to each other in absolutely no way besides the fact that they
were all trending and heavily talked about topics on where? The Internet. It

may not seem to be as interesting as recent trends, but informational and

hard hitting videos such as the one I pose to you are gobbled up by teachers
and middle-aged women such as my mom as a good learning opportunity for
their students and children. Which is yet another reason I chose the Internet.
I can reach tons of different demographics, from old to young, short to tall,
elementary to college, student to professor, etc by simply just uploading the
video! In all, my solution is just as international and widespread as the issue I
am presenting. I feel it is only necessary in order to really bring around
awareness to the population.

The entire goal of the Legacy Project is to bring not only awareness to
our minds, but to our communities and what we truly care about. This project
brought to me the growing and problematic issue of air pollution in urban
areas and how it can and will affect all of us in the long run, lest we not do
something about it. Originally, before this project, I didnt think twice about
the smog hanging over China or the smoke emissions that our cars and
trucks give off on the roads so frequently. I found out that urban air pollution
is so widespread and affects so many people that my idea for a great
solution was to get out this idea using something just as, if not more
international. This is was the Internet. With the power, help and support of
my friends and family, I know I can achieve my solution. So thank you,
Legacy Project, for helping me realize a greater need in the world than 3 bars
of wifi or a weekly Starbucks coffee. With this new knowledge I have gained, I

am determined to meet my goals and hopefully go beyond what I have

expected.

Bibliography:
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"Urban Environment Unit , UNEP." Urban Environment Unit , UNEP. N.p., n.d.
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Books:
Coad, John. Reducing Pollution. Chicago, IL: Heinemann Library, 2009. Print.
Rapp, Valerie. Protecting Earth's Air Quality. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner
Publications, 2009. Print.
Interviews:
Harrold, Sara. Personal interview. 17 April 2015.