ALLERGIES, AIR POLLUTION & THE END OF THE WORLD

It’s not like me to be dramatic after all, or throw in any type of controversial headline. LOL. However, I think this particular headline holds a bit of weight. I have been noticing lately how things have progressively been getting worse. Worse in the sense that allergy sufferers seem to be growing in number and the problem with air pollution is seemingly worsening by the day.

I mean it’s not rocket science after all. I am pretty sure the reasons are there for most of us to see. Let’s start this little debate off with a look at the air pollution situation. Locally, here in Malta, I don’t think the air has ever been as bad. At least not in the 26 years I have been here. The amount of construction that has taken, and is, taking place here in Malta has gone beyond the boundaries of natural infrastructure development.

And as a consequence, the amount of fine dust that we have in the air is at critical level. Its everywhere. And the worse part is you can’t escape it. Its on your clothes, covers your car and can be found quietly residing up your kids noses and in their lungs. A horrible thought indeed. But quite possibly that is not even the worst contributor to our declining air quality. What is? CARS.

The amount of cars on the roads here in Malta is beyond ridiculous. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that with an increase in population, and the current business migration into the country, there would be an increase in the amount of vehicles on our roads. But what we see today, is just crazy. Yes its true, we lack a truly efficient public transport system. Which in my opinion, considering the growth, is now an absolute necessity. But whatever the reasons may be, the simple fact of the matter is that there are just way too many cars. The air is pollution is extremely high, and we are all suffering the consequences.

Would it surprise you to know that of all the countries in the world, Malta ranks 9th in terms of car volume density. With an extremely high value of 693 cars per 1000 inhabitants? Crazy for such a small island. It may also surprise you to know that in the rankings for worst air pollution in the world Malta ranks 30th. I was extremely surprised by this. I knew the situation was getting worse but never expected this.That a country not known for being of an industrial nature would rank so highly. Madness.

Which leads me to the part where we discuss allergies. I have been an allergy sufferer for most of my life. Pre Malta, it was an allergy to pollen, but since arriving in Malta its been the god damn dust that has killed me. I have tried all types of remedies and medicines to no avail. I can live with it, as many of you can, but what concerns me the most is the amount of young children who have now become chronic allergy sufferers. My son is one of them. The poor boy lives perpetually without the ability to breath through his nose. In fact I would go as far as to say that 9 days out of every 10 he suffers. Its hard as a parent to sit and watch this and not be able to do much about it.

But, I have noticed it is not just my son. In fact I have noticed an alarming amount of young children who now suffer, chronically I might add, from allergies. I dare to say this is almost becoming an epidemic. Now I am only going off my own memory here, but I don’t believe it was anywhere near as bad 10 years ago. And certainly no where near as bad 26 years ago when I arrived. Houston we have a major f***ing problem.

If we don’t do something about this now, where the hell are we going to be in 20 years from now? Think about it. With the way things are progressing, and the rapid decline of air quality, what are we going to be breathing in the future? It certainly does not look good. Thankfully though, the world is really trying hard to do something about. Wait a second, no they are f***king not.

We have this thing called the Paris accord, which was supposed to be an agreement between nations to treat mother earth with a little more respect. Now, Donald Chump and his band of merry narcissists decided to pull America, the supposed world leader by example, out. Great example to be setting. All the while, the human race, locals included, continue to ignore the serious problems with air pollution, cut down trees in favour of big agricultural industry and heap pressure on the earths soon to be tapped out natural resources.

Is there anyone out there who thinks we can continue along this path without one day suffering extremely severe consequences? I for one do not think we can continue this way for long. And perhaps it’s the pessimist in me, but eventually, I believe it will be the end of the world as we know it.