Fine dust in Seoul, pictures by Christie Pham

When Air Pollution Turns Heaven to Hell (2)

In alcuni giorni la fitta coltre di smog nasconde edifici e vetture.
South Korea, Eastern Asia

Story by Nhi (Christie) Pham. Translated by Anita Landolfo
Published on August 15, 2022.

This story is also available in GB kr tr



Durante i 5 anni vissuti in Corea del Sud ho visto la sua bellezza splendere in ogni stagione. La romantica fioritura di ciliegi, le spiagge assolate, gli incantevoli aceri e le montagne innevate rendono la Corea un paradiso agli occhi di coloro che l’ammirano. La città di Seoul è bellissima nei giorni limpidi, con il suo cielo azzurro e le colline verdeggianti visibili dalle strade cittadine; tuttavia, a causa della fitta coltre di smog, in alcuni giorni si fa fatica a scorgere il cielo. In tali giorni, l’AQI (Air Quality Index - Indice di qualità dell’aria) descrive l’aria come “pericolosa” e, con una semplice raffica di vento, vetture ed edifici vengono ricoperti di polvere.  

Le polveri sottili compongono l’aria in ogni stagione, ma quando l’aria è particolarmente secca, le concentrazioni di polveri sottili ed ultrasottili raggiungono livelli pericolosi per giorni o perfino settimane. Le polveri sottili rappresentano una grave minaccia per la salute in quanto contengono nitrati, nero di carbonio e polveri minerali. Esse hanno piccole dimensioni e non sono visibili a occhio nudo; oltrepassano facilmente naso e gola, penetrando nel sistema circolatorio e causando danni agli organi. Ho vissuto in prima persona i danni dell’inquinamento ambientale in Corea del Sud; poco dopo essermi trasferita, iniziai ad avere i sintomi di una grave allergia alla polvere. Nei giorni più inquinati, i miei occhi diventarono arrossati e pruriginosi e fui costretta a recarmi dal medico per la prescrizione di farmaci; tuttavia, il suo atteggiamento mi sorprese poiché si comportò come se i miei sintomi, in quella stagione, fossero piuttosto comuni tra i pazienti.  

I sintomi respiratori causarono in me stress e ansia.

I sintomi peggiorarono, iniziai ad avere difficoltà respiratorie e dolore toracico e, dal momento che a quel tempo la Corea era alle prese con la pandemia di COVID-19, iniziai a preoccuparmi seriamente provando stress e ansia. Mi furono diagnosticate rinite e reflusso acido dovuti ad un’allergia alle polveri sottili e allo stress. Volevo davvero andar via dal paese a causa di quei problemi di salute. 

 

Durante la stagione delle polveri, è piuttosto frequente vedere avvisi d’allerta relativi all’inquinamento ambientale, in cui si consiglia ai cittadini di astenersi dalle attività all’aperto e di prendere mezzi di trasporto pubblico piuttosto che vetture personali. Si assiste anche ad un aumento nella vendita e promozione di prodotti per la protezione da polveri sottili, quali mascherine KF95 e depuratori d’aria. Le polveri sottili sono ormai parte della quotidianità cittadina e, vivere in Corea, significa anche dover essere preparati e abituarsi ad esse. Ogni volta che scattano i livelli di allerta, gli stranieri mostrano la propria frustrazione, commentando di voler lasciare il paese a causa di quel paradiso, ormai, trasformatosi in un vero e proprio inferno. 

Molti sudcoreani accusano la Cina di aver dato vita a tali circostanze; infatti, si sentono spesso nei notiziari coreani frasi come “è in arrivo la tempesta di sabbia gialla cinese” (중국 황사 몰려온다) oppure “le polveri sottili sono causate dalla Cina” (중국탓 황사).

Tuttavia, grazie agli studi condotti dalla NASA e dal NIER (National Institute Of Environmental Research – Istituto nazionale della Corea di Ricerca Ambientale), ho appreso che le industrie locali, le costruzioni, le imbarcazioni e le prese elettriche, contribuiscono alla produzione di polveri sottili in misura maggiore rispetto alle fonti oltreoceano. Per gestire il problema, la Corea sta cercando di sensibilizzare i cittadini sulle problematiche ambientali, incoraggiando le persone ad agire nella loro quotidianità. Ogni volta che il livello delle polveri è alto, il governo revoca il pagamento dei biglietti di metropolitane e pullman e chiude i parcheggi; inoltre, per promuovere un tipo di trasporto più sostenibile, sono state costruite piste ciclabili e zone esclusivamente pedonali. Di recente, mi è anche capitato di vedere più pullman elettrici. 

Grazie agli sforzi e ai passi in avanti promossi dal paese per ridurre l’inquinamento atmosferico e i problemi causati dalle polveri sottili, ho riconsiderato la decisione di andar via e spero vivamente che nei prossimi dieci anni la Corea potrà quotidianamente vantarsi del cielo limpido e dell’aria pulita. 


Riferimenti

Korea Air Pollution Control Industry overview, best prospects, trade shows and contacts, 2020, International Trade Administration, https://www.trade.gov/knowledge-product/korea-air-pollution-control

Seoul's Answer to a Pollution Crisis: Free Public Transit, 2018, Bloomberg CityLab, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-24/seoul-tackles-air-pollution-with-free-public-transit

Chinese Yellow Dust Or Korean Factory Fumes? NASA Teams Cruise For Clues, 2016, Forbes, https://www.forbes.com/sites/donaldkirk/2016/05/13/yellow-dust-from-china-or-korean-industry-nasa-scientists-sample-skies-for-sources-of-pollution/?sh=5a3f07dc6047

미세먼지: 당신이 알아야 할 6가지 사실, 2018, BBC News KR, https://www.bbc.com/korean/news-43524873

미세먼지-배출-정보와-발생-원인을-알고-싶다면, 2021, The Science Times news, https://www.sciencetimes.co.kr/news/

계절별 평균, 2020, Seoul Atmospheric Environment Information, https://cleanair.seoul.go.kr/statistics/seasonAverage

 


How does this story make you feel?

Follow-up

Do you have any questions after reading this story? Do you want to follow-up on what you've just read? Get in touch with our team to learn more! Send an email to
[email protected].

Talk about this Story

Please enable cookies to view the comments powered by Disqus.

Share your story

Every story we share is another perspective on a complex topic like migration, gender and sexuality or liberation. We believe that these personal stories are important to better understand what's going on in our globalised society - and to better understand each other. That's because we are convinced that the more we understand about each other, the easier it will be for us to really talk to one another, to get closer - and to maybe find solutions for the issues that affect us all. 

Do you want to share your story? Then have a look here for more info.

Share Your Story

Subscribe to our Monthly Newsletter

Stay up to date with new stories on Correspondents of the World by subscribing to our monthly newsletter:

* indicates required

Follow us on Social Media

Nhi (Christie) Pham

Nhi (Christie) Pham

Nhi Pham (Christie Pham) is a Vietnamese UX designer based in Seoul, South Korea. During her 5 years of living in South Korea as a student, a correspondent and then an office worker, she has observed and experienced several aspects of the country, especially Seoul City. With interests in global, environmental and multicultural issues, she wants to share her stories with readers from her perspective. Her ultimate goal is to connect and inspire people around the world.

Other Stories in Italiano

Opio Lameck


Maria Sotiropoulou

Show all

Get involved

At Correspondents of the World, we want to contribute to a better understanding of one another in a world that seems to get smaller by the day - but somehow neglects to bring people closer together as well. We think that one of the most frequent reasons for misunderstanding and unnecessarily heated debates is that we don't really understand how each of us is affected differently by global issues.

Our aim is to change that with every personal story we share.

Share Your Story

Community Worldwide

Correspondents of the World is not just this website, but also a great community of people from all over the world. While face-to-face meetings are difficult at the moment, our Facebook Community Group is THE place to be to meet other people invested in Correspondents of the World. We are currently running a series of online-tea talks to get to know each other better.

Join Our Community

EXPLORE TOPIC Environment

Global Issues Through Local Eyes

We are Correspondents of the World, an online platform where people from all over the world share their personal stories in relation to global development. We try to collect stories from people of all ages and genders, people with different social and religious backgrounds and people with all kinds of political opinions in order to get a fuller picture of what is going on behind the big news.

Our Correspondents

At Correspondents of the World we invite everyone to share their own story. This means we don't have professional writers or skilled interviewers. We believe that this approach offers a whole new perspective on topics we normally only read about in the news - if at all. If you would like to share your story, you can find more info here.

Share Your Story

Our Editors

We acknowledge that the stories we collect will necessarily be biased. But so is news. Believing in the power of the narrative, our growing team of awesome editors helps correspondents to make sure that their story is strictly about their personal experience - and let that speak for itself.

Become an Editor

Vision

At Correspondents of the World, we want to contribute to a better understanding of one another in a world that seems to get smaller by the day - but somehow neglects to bring people closer together as well. We think that one of the most frequent reasons for misunderstanding and unnecessarily heated debates is that we don't really understand how each of us is affected differently by global issues.

Our aim is to change that with every personal story we share.

View Our Full Vision & Mission Statement

Topics

We believe in quality over quantity. To give ourselves a focus, we started out to collect personal stories that relate to our correspondents' experiences with six different global topics. However, these topics were selected to increase the likelihood that the stories of different correspondents will cover the same issues and therefore illuminate these issues from different perspectives - and not to exclude any stories. If you have a personal story relating to a global issue that's not covered by our topics, please still reach out to us! We definitely have some blind spots and are happy to revise our focus and introduce new topics at any point in time. 

Environment

Discussions about the environment often center on grim, impersonal figures. Among the numbers and warnings, it is easy to forget that all of these statistics actually also affect us - in very different ways. We believe that in order to understand the immensity of environmental topics and global climate change, we need the personal stories of our correspondents.

Gender and Sexuality

Gender is the assumption of a "normal". Unmet expectations of what is normal are a world-wide cause for violence. We hope that the stories of our correspondents will help us to better understand the effects of global developments related to gender and sexuality, and to reveal outdated concepts that have been reinforced for centuries.

Migration

Our correspondents write about migration because it is a deeply personal topic that is often dehumanized. People quickly become foreigners, refugees - a "they". But: we have always been migrating, and we always will. For millions of different reasons. By sharing personal stories about migration, we hope to re-humanize this global topic.

Liberation

We want to support the demand for justice by spotlighting the personal stories of people who seek liberation in all its different forms. Our correspondents share their individual experiences in creating equality. We hope that for some this will be an encouragement to continue their own struggle against inequality and oppression - and for some an encouragement to get involved.

Education

Education is the newest addition to our themes. We believe that education, not only formal but also informal, is one of the core aspects of just and equal society as well as social change. Our correspondents share their experiences and confrontations about educational inequalities, accessibility issues and influence of societal norms and structures. 

Corona Virus

2020 is a year different from others before - not least because of the Corona pandemic. The worldwide spread of a highly contagious virus is something that affects all of us in very different ways. To get a better picture of how the pandemic's plethora of explicit and implicit consequences influences our everyday life, we share lockdown stories from correspondents all over the world.

Growing Fast

Although we started just over a year ago, Correspondents of the World has a quickly growing community of correspondents - and a dedicated team of editors, translators and country managers.

94

Correspondents

113

Stories

57

Countries

433

Translations

Contact

Correspondents of the World is as much a community as an online platform. Please feel free to contact us for whatever reason!

Message Us

Message on WhatsApp

Call Us

Joost: +31 6 30273938