Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Air Pollution and Allergies

The last two days in Putzi and BaiHe have been very bad ones for me allergy-wise, the worst since I had year-before-last in Iowa and Nebraska during corn harvest. At first I assumed the problems yesterday and today may have been due to spring-related allergens, which may in fact be the case. However, with the sky so dark all day today, air pollution once again seems to be the more likely culprit (see this link and that link for updated information):
I heard from my barber this morning that the air in Chiayi, a small city near where I live and work, is widely considered to be the worst in all of Taiwan. This is not because of locally-generated pollution. Rather, it is all due to moralistically-challenged (沒有公德心) businessmen lacking civic-spirit who live in mainland China. Their legacy floats over here.
Wear a face mask before you go out to exercise, everyone!