1.
Growing up, I am like a bird seasonally “migrating” from Beijing to Haikou, and climate of those two locations are quite different.
For Beijing, I remember before I was 10, there was sand storm constantly, and later on, the smog, but it got much better now. Unlike the movie in class, the part which the little girl said about never seeing blue skies and stars, I remember counting stars and making wishes. For Haikou, on the contrary, it got worse. There used to be sunny days and clear rains but now, the weather turned wider and more irregular. I assume it was because the ocean filling.
My favorite season is winter, not only because my birthday is in winter, but also the cold and the snow. Coldness is my shelter and it is something clean. Only in winter, I can have the feeling of warm. I always am afraid of sunny days with boiling temperature having the feeling of being naked.
There are specific two moments of weather I could recall and they are both related to the rain. The first one is in Beijing, when I was at second grade, and I was going to the food market with my mother. I did not get much time hanging out with her growing up, and it was an open space. Then it started to rain out of sudden—poring rain. We only bought one tiny umbrella, and we started to run and laugh. All our clothes got wet but I was so happy. The other event was in Haikou, a typhoon so serious that all electricity shut down and I could remember the glass window began to change shape because of the strong wind. I was terrified at first, then I saw my father: he was more scared than I did but he was trying his best to stay calm so I would not be panic.
2.
I asked my father about how the environment has changed while he growing up. He remember when he was at my age at hometown, there was a river called Qingliang River (Clear River), and he used to catch fishes from the water and cook them beside the river. He also caught little crabs and boiled them. Family farms beside the river grew tomatoes and other fruits. “You do not have the fortune to taste vegetables and fruits that sweet and nature.” He said. And he went back last winter, and that area was developed into industrial work areas. He found the river, but it was dried out and became a waste dumpster. Also the smell was terrible.
3.
I want to focus on the issue of smog in Beijing which is toxic to human bodies and containing PM2.5.
Unlike the sand storm before, smog is smaller with more moisture, and more harmful to human organs. The main cause for the smog is economic activities (90%), and the rest from natural release (10%). For For human activities, most of the smog comes from coal burning 26%, car 19%, food production 11%, industries 10%.
The specific area Beijing is located also helps the smog to gather. (Climate cause)
And here is a chart of the PM 2.5 in breathing air for resent years in Beijing. The red line is the WHO standard and the dark red line is the US’s.
I also watched the movie about smog by Jing Chai (I do not know the English name for the movie). Though some of the content has been exaggerated and most her approaches the audience emotionally (it was once been tabooed by the Chinese government), but this movie really tells a story of how serious the issue of smog has become and we have to make a move.
I remember Jing has said “we cannot alter the environment we are living in, but we can alter our own actions”.
4.
Postcard idea:
In the future, though humans want to change the environment, it still become worse, and the air is no longer safe for humans to breathe without any protection.
So my main focus is the masks people will be wearing, and it become a new fashion trend. People will talk about mask brands just like how we talk about regular clothing brand.
St the back, I want to go with dark humor approach, but not yet come out with exact words.
