Fog all around us: Will we pay Arabs for clean air

By Vedran Zubić, geography professor at Dobrinja High School and geodesy engineer

Every year at this time, we note how two singers have qualitatively sung about meteorological-geographical songs. Although I am not a fan of Josipa, and even less of Merlin, it must be stated that in winter "fog fell on half of Sarajevo" and "fog everywhere, everywhere around us", reports the BH News Agency Patria.

And why is that? In the modern era of Bosnia and Herzegovina, science and scientific knowledge serve only for political-ethnic bickering, and not at all to make life better and standards higher. We are used to our politics dealing with everything except helping the "little" man. Or at least leaving him alone. They remember us before elections and forget us the very next Sunday...

But when they show negligence towards natural wealth. We witness deforestation, the sale of mountains and sources of drinking water, and similar activities behind which lies the inflationary "stamped" petro-dollar of sheikhs or Euro Frau Merkel. However, currently, the complete disinterest of the authorities in the air we breathe or the part of the atmosphere called the troposphere concerns us the most. That is the part where everything important for nature, and thus for humans, happens. It contains 95% of the mass and quality of the atmosphere. If we ignore the ozone layer and the ions responsible for the formation of the polar lights, everything else is in the troposphere. Presumably, our politicians have acquired gas masks, and they spend the winter anyway by frying their faces in the insolation of Davos, Cortina, Chamonix, or some other fashionable center visited by those who do not have an open wallet...

Most Bosnians and Herzegovinians can only see these places in documentary programs. And on HRT, because local television stations are overloaded with quasi-politics and shows like "Farma" (perhaps the name is due to the animals that are there and inhabit it). And while the "thinkers" are thinking about the referendum, January 9th, and similar celebrations, we are breathing air that even little green men would say is polluted. Namely, in the neighboring entity, the celebration is no longer a family, but a political and economic holiday. Every kiosk will have its own celebration. This is very important to us, because how will we fall asleep if this is not resolved. Like Sejdić-Finci, Norwegians, and related peoples. Bills can be paid nicely from this and families can be fed. Buried sooner...

And we will all fall asleep soon. Basin areas are predisposed to fog in the winter period. It is nothing more than a ground-level cloud. Lower temperatures cause condensation in the ground layer, creating a cloud, just as there are nimbostratus and altostratus which we distinguish by altitude. Clouds are also divided by shape. This is probably cumulus. Fog decreases and disappears when there is ventilation, i.e., wind to disperse and drive it away. But fog is not the problem. It is a natural phenomenon. Our problem is SMOG (smoke and fog), which arises from artificial air pollution. Given the level of industry, which is at the level of manufacturing during the Thirty Years' War, this level of pollution is unclear to us. The causes are visible. The amount of H2S and suspended particles indicates that we have a problem with burning solid fuels and their incomplete combustion. Also, 135,000 registered cars, half of which would not pass a technical inspection in Somalia, do not contribute to better air quality. Or air...

One can also ask what politics has to do with the aforementioned? Of course, it does. They are the ones who pass laws and implement them. In today's world, laws have so many loopholes that no one punishes those who burn "fap" tires or do not have an adequate chimney. The whole city is a big barbecue. And the government could stimulate the introduction of heating systems or, miraculously, use underground hot water for heating. It should be added that WV was fined for potential pollution, while our laws allow internal combustion engines from the Korean War period. And no one punishes anyone. And we breathe. And exhale...

To this should be added modern urban construction, for which even structural engineers are not consulted, let alone synoptic meteorologists. Constructions like "SCC" show all the ignorance of those who do not understand what ventilation means in a basin. Science constantly warns about floods with the words "do not cut down forests" and about landslides with prayers "do not build houses on fault lines and do not uproot trees that protect the soil from movement". Science is crying out, but no one hears it. The petrodollar and the euro are more important. And we will need them. But for treatment...

And while we enjoy the city lights and modern infrastructure of semi-steel reinforcement, of course, in periods when there is no smog, let's remember that a basic human resource is disappearing. AIR. Without it, we cannot live for even a few minutes. And good air is a prerequisite for quality water and food. In Hamburg, driving cars in the center is banned because they are trying to bring back greenery. In the big port, they think about health. And us? We probably think that this artificial evolution will happen quickly and we will grow gills or our lungs will adapt to CO and H2S. Either that or we will pay Arabs in Trnovo to inhale. Until we exhale...

The conclusion will not be a list of diseases as a consequence of polluted air, but a suggestion that perhaps the aforementioned will listen to. Since politics does not hear, let Merlin at least sing "smog fell on half of Sarajevo, it can't be seen...". The one who survives will talk about it...