Seems like the jury is still out about climate change and global warming as believers and debunkers on both sides continue to cast their stones toward the other camp, claiming each side and their scientific community have it wrong. The climate change community purports that human activity has significantly affected our planet’s expediency of the rise of global warming, while opponents debate that global warming is nothing more than a natural phenomenon, and human influence would not be able to create such drastic changes to our planet’s atmosphere.
One thing is certain—no matter what side of the debate you may be on, there is no denying pollution or the effects pollution has on our environment, or to our physical health. Pollution is real, and the most dangerous pollution is the kind we cannot see, for it leaves room for much debate and misinterpretation. Just because we cannot always see it does not mean is not there or that it does not exist.
I can share with you first-hand, from testing technology in the lab and in the field, that pollution—especially toxic harmful vehicle emissions—is a real threat. I have been witness to a number of vehicles tested before the application of a green technology, as the vehicle was sold to the vehicle owner from factory. I have then witnessed a number of vehicles tested after having an emissions reduction green technology installed, such as the Smart Emissions Reducer
These tests were conducted with either a five-gas analyzer and/or with a diesel emissions opacity tester (just like the same testing device used for diesel emissions inspections testing). The testing equipment measures a number of toxic vehicle emissions including hydrocarbons (HC), nitrogen oxides (Nox), carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide, and opacity.
Vehicles tested before the device was installed and then after retrofitted with the Smart Emissions Reducer clearly demonstrates that the unseen threat does exists, and it can be mitigated when we choose to allow innovation to do its job.
An article written by Harrison H. Schmitt, an adjunct professor of engineering and at UW-Madison, and William Happer, a professor of physics at Princeton University, both claim that carbon dioxide is not the worst offender; it is other thicker harmful toxic chemical agents such as the unburnt fuel from vehicle tailpipes which are to blame.
These pollutants are dubbed the invisible killers. Unburned hydrocarbons are a major contributor to air pollution. Harmful toxic vehicle emissions as a part of air pollution have had drastic effects on the health of young children.
A study conducted in Newark, New Jersey, found that children living in Newark are three times are more likely to get asthma as a result of poor air quality. Heavy truck traffic, industrial plants, and the very busy sea port are to blame in the area, as these are major contributors of harmful toxic emissions. One in four children must content with asthma in this New Jersey city, effecting children’s ability to learn. Over a half of million school days are lost by children grades K through 12 as a result of poor air quality in Newark, per research presented to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
Dr. Ana Baptista, claims, “More people die of pollution than of gunshot wounds in Newark.” Baptista is a co-chair of the Passaic River Superfund Community Advisory Group.
Newark is not alone in this fight. Other major cities with air pollution issues include Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, and Seattle; cities that have some of the largest sea ports and highest volume of truck traffic in the region.
There is no denying the facts, regardless of what side you are on of the climate change-global warming debate. By our own behaviors and lack of adopting new technological innovations, we are choking ourselves and our children to death.
Samuel K. Burlum is an investigative reporter who authors articles related to economic development, innovation, green technology, business strategy, and public policy concerns. Burlum is also a career entrepreneur who lends his expertise as a consultant to start-up companies, small businesses, and mid-size enterprises, providing advisement in several areas including strategic business planning, business development, supply chain management, and systems integration. He is also author of The Race to Protect Our Most Important Natural Resource-Water, Main Street Survival Guide for Small Businesses, and Life in the Green Lane-in Pursuit of the American Dream.