Three Things You Should Know – March 2020

Each month, the reporters at PantherNation scour the news to find three of the most important Global Stories that we think students should know about. Here’s what happened in the first quarter of 2020.

Is this PM 2.5?

Pollution is one of the most significant stories in the news today. All of us here at ISB know of Bangkok’s recent pollution problems.  Schools have closed, and many students have complained of respiratory problems since the middle of December. Many of us have also chosen to wear masks every day to fend off any disease. Mr. Hevland, the Director of Risk Management says, “We have seen increased AQI (Air Quality Index) readings on campus over the past few days and we expect that the AQI will continue to fluctuate during the colder months of January and February. Through our monitoring systems, we can see that the levels on campus tend to be highest in the early morning and then decrease as the day continues.” 

In ISB, Risk Management is working on improving the air quality as Mr. Hevland says “As of today, all classrooms have had the filtration and dehumidification units, installed. While we invest in improving the air quality indoors, we also continue to enforce our Air Quality Guidelines, which ensures reduced exposure to harmful pollutants when students are outdoors.”

The problem of pollution goes back 170 years.  During the industrial revolution, people started using fires and machines. Therefore as the air quality index is increasing rapidly, the earth started to change – as the graph shows.

As Graph 1 explains, there are many particulate matters and one of them is PM2.5 which is now a problem because it does really affect human health in a negative way. Additionally, PM2.5 is produced suddenly from the year of 2000. PM 2.5 is produced by vehicles, burning, and industrial processes. 

According to the EPA (as graph 2 shows), there are several factors and causes for producing several different particle matters: CO, NH3, NOx, Direct PM 2.5, Direct PM10, SO2, and VOC.

Graph 2 says that “industrial and other processes” and “stationary fuel combustion” seem to be the most common cause for the destruction of nature. How that pollution affects human health is through “coughing and shortness of breath”, “aggravations such as  asthma and lung diseases”, and if worse “premature mortality from respiratory causes.” These symptoms are because of the dust which enters our lungs. 

Gun shooting in Thailand shopping mall

In a gun shooting in northeastern Thailand on February 8th, security officials said on Friday that the people had shot dead a man standing in a shopping mall. The people is a soldier belonging to the Thai Army. After grabbing military guns and bullets and killing his superiors, he fired guns in urban areas. According to PM, 27 people have been killed, including the perpetrators, and 57 have been seriously injured. Jakapan Tonma who shot at the mall was also shot dead. The state of the crime was distributed on Facebook. At a commercial facility, a firefight took place with security officials, killing two police officers who were working to suppress the situation.

The incident took place 250 km northeast of the capital, Bangkok, and is home to Thai Prime Minister Prayut. Following the incident, Prime Minister Prayut, who rushed to the site, said, “This is the first such worst incident in Thailand and I do not want it to be repeated.”

The UK royal problem

The UK royal prince and his wife decided the separating the number of royalty.  His name is the price, Harry. He and Megan (his wife) decided to separate the member of the royal center. And also they will work in another country and don’t follow the money of the UK person’s tax about royalty money. However, he continues to get the right to inherit the throne. In the UK, the people who have the blood of that royal family. Every person has that during their whole life. He has sixth in the right to inherit the throne. They want to get an independent life. They have worked the royal business. It is a new style of the royal system in the UK.