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Becki Hall Human Ecology March 25, 2002 Air Pollution Dust from the cracked, dry earth mists the sky. The horizon supports the afternoon sun. In the distance, two silhouettes come walking forward. The closer they two figures get, the more clearly distinguishable they become. It is a father and daughter dressed in shorts and tee shirts. They are ready for summer, only one major problem. The two are in gas masks because the air is toxic to humans. Everywhere the turn there are deep cracks in the surface of the earth. These stretch on for miles in every direction. Desolation and abandonment encompass this scene. The daughter questions her father, “What happened?” He replies, “We did not keep our air clean and free of pollutants.” This was a commercial when I was a young girl. It was extremely effective in bringing to the foreground a problem that is widely overlooked by society as a whole. Air pollution is a serious matter and one that needs attention. Before we can address air pollution, we must first define pollution. “Pollution has its origins in the Latin word polluere, which means ‘contamination of any feature of the environment’” (http://hk.geocities.com/xavier114fch/01/01-content.htm).