Letter #2

Letter #2

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am a student of Ipeka Christian Bilingual School. Each time I
go out of my house, I always feel very sad because I realize that
the air quality of Jakarta is very bad because it's heavily
polluted.

Air pollution is made up of many kinds of gases, droplets and
particles that reduce the quality of the air. The main sources of
air pollution are cars, buses and airplanes, as well as
industries and construction. The more we have cars, buses and
airplanes, [the more] we need to plant more plants too.

We need to keep the amount of pollution and the amount of
fresh air stable, but Jakarta has very few plants while the
amount of cars, buses and airplanes is colossal.

Industries and construction produce nitrogen oxides (produced
by combustion of fuels) that contributes to acid rain, which can
cause great destruction of our environment, and it is also
harmful to living things.

Water keeps humans alive and clean air helps keep the water
drinkable. Pollution affects water in the atmosphere. When rain
falls, raindrops carry the pollution back to the land. If less
pollution is produced, water sources might become better and
people might drink water safely. As we see in Jakarta, water from
taps is not drinkable because it contains too much pollution that
might be harmful.

Besides all the things that I have mentioned above, there is
one thing left. It is the effect of air pollution on our health.
Air pollution can irritate the eyes, throat and lungs, and it
also causes cancer.

Air pollution is a very big problem. We have to try to reduce
air pollution. It is impossible to reduce the amount of cars or
other transportation in Jakarta.

As a result, the government has to plant more plants in parks
and roads. The citizens must [use] at least a little part of
their house [as] a garden. The government must also [build] parks
among two or three buildings all over Jakarta to give the city
fresh air. The government also has to make rules that forbid
industries from releasing poisonous gases.

We also have to form an agency that can check and report on
air quality, like the United States, which has the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), and because of the EPA, [that] nation's
air quality has greatly improved over the last 20 years. Perhaps
after our government makes the same agency, Jakarta's air quality
will improve.

I know that the government is in a great money crisis, but air
pollution is a very big problem and [in order] to expand parks,
perhaps the government can seek volunteers to plant the plants
that are required. I also understand that it's so hard to start,
but I believe that all citizens want to be healthy people, and to
be healthy, we need to take care of our environment, especially
the air that we breathe every moment.

I wish that all the citizens in Jakarta and the government
would realize how big the problem caused by air pollution really
is, because after we understand, we can improve the quality of
the air that we breathe. Thank you for your attention.

Sincerely,
Michelle