Like most people, I am a sucker for sunsets. Especially ones with a beautiful pink cotton candy kind of color. Every summer I take it upon myself to watch every sunset, every day. I do NOT miss sunsets in the summer because they are some of the simplest forms of beauty and art that nature has to offer. However, not so long ago I came upon a debate about the color of sunsets and what I heard made me feel tons of guilt.
Not so long ago, I’d say about a year, I was introduced to the idea that pink skies are actually a cause of pollution. My heart hurt, I had loved sunsets with such a passion but knowing that the unique color they held came from our contamination hurt. I began reading articles on it and read multiple sides of the issue.
One issue being that aerosols contamination makes out skies more pink but the pollution actually dulls the sunset. In another article I heard the opposite. (Both articles will be published under this assignment.) Regardless, human activity played a part in the way our skies looked and it had me wondering as to why I’ve been so intrigued by the sunsets now, but not when I was a younger kid and loved colors even more. Could it be that the pollution is causing the skies to look brighter and more attractive? Or can it be that human activity has alter the way we see a sunset to distract us from the fact that we are damaging the earth we live on?
The movie title, “The devil wears Prada” is a perfect example of this issue. We believe that this sunset it beautiful and appealing when the reason behind the sunset is troubling and we cannot accept our damage.
Kevin Hasa
Article 1: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-smog-creates-beautiful-sunsets/
Article 2: https://www.spc.noaa.gov/publications/corfidi/sunset/
