제 16 호 Fireworks: Makes World on Fire, Literally and Figuratively
Kicker : DEBATE
Fireworks: Makes World on Fire, Literally and Figuratively
Seasonal Beautiful Scenery Both Enhances and Damages Our World
Do-Hyuk Kim, Reporter
Recent comeback of fireworks parade in South Korea marked retrieval of our daily lives that was shut down two years ago due to the outbreak of COVID-19. The parade, mostly hosted by Hanhwa Corporation in Korea, boasted a bigger scale of fireworks compared to the ones shown in the parade held before coronavirus’ spread – ranging from Mapo Bridge to Hangang Railway Bridge. Return of the parade invited thousands of citizens to gather to places such as parks to enjoy this thirty-minutes of entertainment. As we can see from our country’s own parade, fireworks present special events to people and known as producing economic effects on several businesses. But they are also known to cause environmental issues, especially to the atmosphere. Is it reasonable to keep using fireworks to enlighten the ambience of parades or events? Let’s count the earnings and losses caused by fireworks more carefully with this article.
History of fireworks is much longer than you would expect. You would be staggered by the fact that the first firework dates further back to almost the origin of humanity – second century Before Christ. Fireworks were often used to celebrate memorable events or to wish for a happy life back then, just like we do today. Enjoying fireworks was believed to be first founded in China, and Korea is speculated to have started watching fireworks in the Goryeo Dynasty. Now, all of global citizens favor watching this explosion in the sky and the economic effect it creates is immense.
Take our recent fireworks parade for example. As we are Koreans, we are only interested in when the fireworks go on and where we should go to watch the event, but the parade was not only held in South Korea, but was held globally. A Japanese team, Italian team and Korean team each showcased their type of prettiest fireworks. In the case of South Korea, one million citizens visited several spots which are easy to watch fireworks parade showing off. Think about the economic impact that one million people went out from their homes and bought products from nearby local stores and businesses. It would be huge, that is for sure. These people spend their money for transportation, and what they eat or drink while waiting or watching the fireworks, and could spend even more time outdoors after the parade. Host of the parade, Hanwha group could promote their global image to global citizens who watch the parade via online and could further improve their businesses in the future in unexpected areas.
My personal experience also supports fireworks’ positive effect on economy. When I visited Hawaii, I booked a cruise ship that included watching fireworks that was held every Friday. Ticket of boarding on Friday was fully booked every week, but other days were not even including weekends. Because of that firework, more tourists visited the spot to enjoy nightscape called Tantalus at the exact time when fireworks were fired. Fireworks make people to move around and develop economical activities, which can not be disregarded especially today when the economy is in a downturn.
But there is a problem – a big one. You would not be so sure that environmental problem now has directly making an impact on our daily lives until last year, but it is completely different in 2022. Shooting fireworks to the sky harasses the atmosphere, since fireworks consist of metal and gunpowder. Several chemicals are used to add colors to each firework, which also give knock-on impact to our ceilings. Right after fireworks explode, microscopic particulate matters wobble around near the atmosphere – that we eventually breathe in.
Last month in November, India had their biggest annual party called ‘Diwali.’ Diwali celebrates light beating darkness, which has a deep relationship with Hinduism. Since the celebration marks the defeat of darkness, billions of Indians shoot fireworks both privately and generally. The Indian government acknowledging the environmental issue prematurely announced ban on fireworks during the Diwali period, but no one followed the rule. The press of India and other countries reported that the level of particulate matter dramatically increased right after the very day Diwali was at its highlight. Those fine dust particles formed like a cloud, and limited vision to only nearby surroundings. If the global population keeps surging and enjoying fireworks, we would eventually end up at an unbreathable future with an atmosphere congested with dusts.
We cannot immediately ban every single firework festival held in all countries of the world in the name of protecting the environment. Fireworks’ impact on the economy is still boasting its presence, and presenting joy to citizens is definitely an important role that fireworks have played ever since this technology was first developed. But to ensure our lives and descendants’ clean, fresh air, we need to at least reduce the frequency of holding firework parades in each nation. Fireworks are beautiful, but we should beware of the negative effects on our long-term survival.
Sources:
http://www.hanwha.co.kr/images/newsMedia/photo/20171010_news01.jpg (Image)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fireworks
https://www.emerics.org:446/newsBriefDetail.es?brdctsNo=309043&mid=a10100000000
