Shortage of Oxygen
Our atmosphere contains a great deal of oxygen and its loss is constantly made good by green plants. It seemed that man would never have to face a shortage of oxygen. However, it must be acknowledged with great distress that this hope is fading.
A few years ago the Japanese were forced to make reserves of oxygen available in ordinary, everyday conditions. The streets of Tokyo and other large cities in Japan are always packed with cars whose fumes poison the air with carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. Such air is unsuitable for breathing, although it still contains sufficient oxygen.
The traffic wardens who are working for many hours in the streets are unable to last out a whole shift. To avoid excessive poisoning, they have to be supplied with oxygen. It is now a long-standing practice to provide police stations with cylinders of compressed air so that the policemen can take a breath of good air from time to time. Now they have started to install oxygen machines in the streets of Tokyo for passers-by, too, similar to the aerated water machines that are to be found in many cities the world over. This means that everybody can put a coin in the machine and refresh his lungs with oxygen.
test Filed under oxygen | Tags: atmosphere, breathing, carbon dioxide, lungs, oxygen | Comments (2)2 Responses to “Shortage of Oxygen”
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