“1 gallon of gas =24 pounds of global warming emissions” (UCSUSA). Many of the people in our world today don’t understand just how much The Automobile affects us, our lives, and the world we live in. Undoubtedly, the invention of the car has changed our perspective on the different technology created over the past years. However, cars are some of the leading factors towards one of the largest ongoing problems occurring in our world today. That problem goes by the name of global warming. “Since 1990, Transportation has been one of the fastest growing sources of U.S. GHG” (U.S.D.T), otherwise known as Greenhouse gasses. In which most of us know; global warming affects our health, environment, weather, and ultimately our lives. It is a critical issue that continues to grow among this world, and cars nonetheless seem to be the main culprit. In fact, it can be easily said that the Automobiles of our generation can be considered the greatest common factor and one of the leading contributors for global warming. According to the UCSUSA, “Transportation produces almost 30% of all U.S. Global warming emissions.” This is with the exception of jets, planes, or any other type of aircrafts. That being said, the rate for GHG continues to rise and cars continually release toxins into the atmosphere. Not only is the world growing substantially, but the rates for cars on the road continue to increase rapidly as well. It is a known fact that more people are driving now more than ever, and are driving further than ever before. As stated by Philip LeBeau and CNBC, “1.7 billion cars are expected to be on the road by 2035.” The rate of growth is a tell-tale sign that the rate of emissions is increasing. “Each year the average car sends 6 tons of carbo... ... middle of paper ... ... Helps Combat Climate Change." Huff post [Sacremento] 4 2 2014, weekly enviromental. Web. 5 Mar. 2014. NRC (2008). The Potential Impacts of Climate Change on U.S. Transportation . Exit EPA Disclaimer Transportation Research Board Special Report 290. National Research Council (NRC). Rell, William. "Transportation and climate change." climate.dot.gov. u.s department of transportation, 5 1 2013. Web. 5 Mar 2014. . Strawa, Dr. A.W. United States. Nasa. How do Vehicle Emissions Affect Climate?. San Fransisco: Nasa Ames Research Center, 2006. Print. USGCRP (2009). Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States . Karl, T.R., J.M. Melillo, and T.C. Peterson (eds.). United States Global Change Research Program. Cambridge University Press, New York, NY, USA. Callosky, Bill Personal interview 1 Mar. 2014
15. New Report: Reducing Vehicular Global Warming Pollution Saves California Drivers Money, 2004, Union of Concerned Scientists, 11 May 2004, <http://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release.cfm?newsID=391>
...i, X., . . . Johnson, C. A. (Eds.). (2001). Climate change 2001: The scientific basis : contribution of Working Group I to the third assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge, NY: Cambridge University Press.
US’ input in global emissions is ⅕ of the total amount in the world, and after withdrawal from Paris climate accord all of US citizens should take as much responsibilities for their lifestyles as they can. Why don't we start by replacing plane flights with car rides? Of course, in some cases it is unlikely, for example, business trips, where you have to cross the ocean in one day for important meeting, or funeral ceremony of your beloved grandmother, which cannot wait until you cross the country by car. However, the next vacation every conscious person should choose ride over flight. Surely, your family will love the road trip, but even if they won’t be joyful about this news, it will be the right thing to do. Because five of you in the plane will cause twice as much of the ponderous emissions on your trip from New York to Los Angeles than as if you go by car. This sacrifice is absolutely worth it, and everybody should consider
Pollution is a major problem for all of us. People need to recognize this situation so we can start making a difference to this problem. In order to start making a difference, the federal government should increase gasoline tax by one dollar a gallon. Fifty percent of this dollar will go towards public transportation, since passenger cars and trucks are a major contribution towards air pollution, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, E.P.A (10/4, http://www.epa.gov/autoemissions/emsns.html). Due to the expected increase after this is put forth, the remaining fifty percent of the dollar will go towards safety on these transits. When public transportation increases, air pollution will decrease, which will lessen the harmful health risks towards the environment.
Inventers are trying their best to lower the chances of our global climate changing so much. Every year 15 million gas powered cars are sold around the world. When people use gasoline powered cars, the fumes from the exhausts rises into Earth’s atmosphere and helps destroy our ozone layer. The ozone layer helps keep UV rays from beating directly on our skin. The ozone has a cavity or small hole appearing in the middle of it, which mean it can’t block UV rays. Fumes from the car play a huge part in this catastrophe. While the hole gradually increases, more heat is allowed into our atmosphere which makes Earth’s temperature rise. To solve this predicament we can stop using gasoline and diesel powered vehicles. Electric cars can eliminate this huge issue with our planet and its
We cannot dispute that automobiles, factories, and power plants, displace an unprecedented twenty tons of carbon monoxide - per person - per year. There needs to be a reduction in emissions, yet we cannot focus on this aspect of global warming alone. There are many indicators that climatic change is influencing the frequency and intensity of natural catastrophes. If scientific global climate models are accurate, the present problems will be magnified in the near future.
Air pollution has become a significant problem in the US as well as the world over years. It’s the result of variety of sources like industrial, agriculture, mechanical and transportation. Sadly, transportation which releases a great amount of carbon dioxides, nitrogen oxides and other toxicity is proven the leading cause of air pollution. There are several transportation factors that contribute to air pollution in the US.
If progress is made toward making cars and trucks continuously more and more environmentally friendly, then the biggest source of harmful emission into the atmosphere will be put to a stop. On average, for each mile driven in a standard vehicle, 411 grams of carbon dioxide are emitted into the atmosphere, this equates to roughly 4.7 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, whereas a car that operates fully on electricity releases no tailpipe emissions into the atmosphere(EPA, 1). As this staggering
Many hazardous pollutants escape from the internal combustion of the engine. Conventional gas powered vehicles use irreplaceable fossil fuels to run. When burned, these fossil fuels create numerous toxins like carbon dioxide (Larminie 246). Carbon dioxide is considered the main greenhouse gas that creates the foundation for global warming (hybridcars.com, pollutants). This harmful pollutant may not have a serious effect on people at first, but it does have consequential effects on the environment that in turn put people in danger (Nutramed.com). The major consequence caused by global warming is the rise in average temperature. This results in a domino...
Car pollutants cause immediate and long-term effects on the environment. Car exhausts emit a wide range of gases and solid matter, causing global warming, acid rain, and harming the environment and human health. Engine noise and fuel spills also cause pollution. Cars, trucks and other forms of transportation are the single largest contributor to air pollution in the United States, but car owners can reduce their vehicle's effects on the environment. Car pollution is one of the major causes of global warming. Cars and trucks emit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, which contribute one-fifth of the United States' total global warming pollution. Greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere, which causes worldwide temperatures to rise.
OTA stated that based on current trends in population and travel … the number of vehicle-miles traveled (VMT) nationwide is projected to increase by 2 to 3 percent per year from now through 2005, resulting in a cumulative increase of about 40 to 60 percent. Obviously, VMT growth could have a major impact on traffic flow in urban areas, as well as on air pollution (84).
The issue of transportation and the environment is somewhat of a paradox. Transportation conveys certain socioeconomic benefits, but transportation is also effecting environmental systems. Positively, transportation supports the increasing need of mobility for passengers and freight, while negatively, transport is tied to motorizations, congestion on transport lines, and the growing lists of environmental externalities. Since the Industrial Age, humans have been rapidly changing their modes of travel, and as this evolution continues, we use more and more of the resources around us. We have now reached a point where transportation is a dominant source of emissions and is responsible for their impacts on the environment.
(Herzog 2001). Identifying appropriate environmental policies for mitigation of transportation to reduce its impacts on the environment is necessary and include fuel and vehicle technology, transportation management, research, and infrastructure planning. Departments of Transportations will need to comply with specific policies to improve air, water, and land quality to ensure that negative impacts on the transportation system are minimized. Clean Energy Policies must continue to be complied with to ensure that the transportation system would not be adversely affected. Policies which would yield energy savings without affecting transportation improvements should be reviewed. Policies to control transportation emissions which contribute to the greenhouse effect need to be researched to ensure that the impacts of the transportation system minimize adverse effects on the environment. But these strategies can only work if state and federal law implement these requirements. If the Department of transportation does not comply, they should be subject to sanctions from the
Almost all automobiles in world release gases which contain soot and carbon dioxide. Soot has always played an important role for global warming. “Soot is the second predominant agent after carbon dioxide which forces warming by contributing 1.1 watts per square meter of soot to the atmosphere” (Richard A. Kerr, 2013). Soot can affect the climate by absorbing sunlight, shrinking cloud...
If we think just in terms of Europe, the transports are responsible for um quarter of the total greenhouse gas emissions. Among all the types of transports the road transports is the one who produces the biggest amount of CO2. To make the figures even more worrying, between 1990 and 2010 the emissions from road transport increased almost 23% [1]