The tragedy of air pollution -- and an urgent demand for clean air | Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah

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4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 15 February 2022

⏱️ 8 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

"Breathing clean air is every child's human right," says grassroots campaigner Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, sharing the heartbreaking story of her seven-year-old daughter, Ella Roberta, whose asthma was triggered to a fatal point by air pollution. Now, Adoo-Kissi-Debrah is on a mission to raise awareness about the harmful effects of unsafe air on our health and the planet. In this moving talk, she details why governments have an urgent responsibility to take action on air pollution -- and ensure that all children have a chance to live full and healthy lives.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to TED Talks Daily.
0:05.9	I'm Elise Hugh.
0:07.1	A heartbreaking reality to think about.
0:09.3	97% of children around the world are breathing unsafe air.
0:14.1	Unborn babies are being polluted before they've even taken their first breath.
0:18.2	In her powerful personal talk at the Countdown Summit in 2021,
0:22.8	clean air advocate Razamine Adieu Kissy Debra
0:25.2	explains why, unless we clear up the air,
0:28.4	we cannot solve climate change.
0:33.0	I'd like to dedicate this talk to my three children,
0:37.4	Fee, Mac, and Ella Roberta.
0:45.6	If I stop breathing for two minutes, I will die.
0:52.1	It is the simplest thing that all of us do unconsciously, about 20,000 times a day,
0:59.6	so normal that we forget that breathing is the essence of life. My daughter Ella Roberta
1:07.9	stopped breathing frequently and was resuscitated numerous times by me at home
1:15.3	and in hospital by her doctors until suddenly, on the 15th of February, three weeks after her ninth
1:25.5	birthday, she took her final breath.
1:30.4	Ella was a healthy, clever, sporty and funny girl.
1:36.2	She had a lot of musical ability.
1:39.1	At the time of her passing, she already played a dozen instruments.
1:43.3	She was exceptionally good at football,
1:47.1	cycling, skating, swimming and dancing. Ella was a great writer, and she was also pretty good at art.
	...

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