The air you breath

Hi there,

Some time ago, watching TV I was informed about the air pollution in a city I currently live. I have started thinking about what it means and what consequences takes. Have you ever thought that the air you breath can make you die?

As you know, the air consists of oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide and noble gas. However, in the air there are many compounds which cause the pollution and are harmful for our health.

What are the main sources of pollution? Undoubtly, too many cars without the emission control devices (called DIESEL) but also too many cars in general, which produces exhaust fumes. Therefore, we can say that we people cause a danger for us. How many of us heat houses using heating appiliances for solid and liquid fuels (wood and coal)? Many tenement-houses in big cities are heated this way. There are also some people who decide to heat their appartment using whatever they can like old clothes or rubbish. This irresponsible behaviour has an impact on the quality of the air. I am sure that you do not know that smoking is also one of the most important factors which causes pollution.

Have you ever heard about stations which measure the quality of the air? There are white machines, similar to big rectangular boxes, full of electronic systems inside, which use an aerial to measure. In Poland in nearly every middle or big city there is almost one. A station measures a level of compounds like ozone, atmospheric particulates (PM10 and PM2,5(, nitrogen dioxide, benzene and sulphur dioxide. Under these strange names there are hidden compounds harmful for our health. They penetrate deeply into the lungs, exacerbating the organ. These are important factors which provoke allergies, asthma, pulmonary, larynx and throat tumors.

How can we defend us from their impact? First of all, we should be aware of a real danger. If we ignore measurments, the pollution will increase continually. Secondly, we should consider that we are all the people who should care about the common ambient. Sometimes it is better to leave your car at the car park and choose the public transport. Couldn't be better to move out from an appartment you are not able to maintain than heating it using rubbish? We should be sensible for other people who live next to us!

How can we check the level of pollution in our cities?
Today the Internet is the best source of information. The Environmental Protection Inspectorates of every Voivodship public warnings about exceeded levels of harmful compounds. There are also a few smartphone applications which indicate the statistics.

Remeber that a hundred percent on the scale indicates the exceeded level of one factor. In the winter, many statistics are exceeded, especially when the winters are quite hot and it winds rarely.

It is you who should care about your own and your children's health!

A book I would like to read, part 1

Hi,

at the beginning I would like to wish you Happy New Year :)

These days I have read many books. However, to tell you the truth, nearly all of these are strictly related to my faculty. Now, I want to tell a little about those I would like to read in 2016. There are many books I have just bought or received. I dream to read them. This series of posts would encounter me and you to start reading what you really want to, without any pression from any side so let's go.

The first book is about a Polish musician and personality, born in Warsaw Kazik Staszewski. The whole title of the book is 'Idę tam gdzie idę: Autobiografia- Kazik Staszewski'. As it is mentioned in the title, it is an autobiography. It was given to me for this Christmas present. Kazik Staszewski is one of my favourites Polish musicians. I really appreciate his songs and principaly texts. For me, he is an artist one could really love, another really hate. His songs are very characteristic, full of metaphors and hidden truths. You must really concentrate to take passion from this kind of music.

For the first sight, the book looks well in relation to its size. For a man in-his-fifties the amount of 432 pages is really on the place. The front cover presents a photo portrait of Kazik Staszewski with his today look. I really regret that the book is not in a hard cover, The publication has been edited by Kosmos Kosmos publishing house in 2015. The introdution says that the book tells the story and experience of a few generations which is very universal as Kazik's songs. The main quotation says in Polish: 'Zawsze sobie mówiłem, że pewne historie pozwolę opublikować dopiero po mojej śmierci, ale niekoniecznie muszę się tego trzymać'. It suggests that the book could present a really interesting memories.

For me, it is not a simple autobiography because it has been written in a form of an interview. The text is accompanied by black and white photos, There are many but they do not overbalance. The book is divided in twenty eight chapters but I think it is possible to read from one question to another without losing a main sense of the book.