How Does Transportation Affect our Environment?
By: Achal Hanmandlu
By: Achal Hanmandlu
Transportation has been a controversial topic when discussing the environment; it has benefited us by creating an easier and faster way to get from place to place, but it is simultaneously hurting our environmental systems. The increasing use of vehicles and engines has expanded the role of transportation as a source of emission of pollutants. Most people don't consider the consequences of transportation, but it is now a necessity in our daily lives, and a change will drastically impact our lifestyles.
Previously, transportation created few negative environmental impacts because the models used had substantially low mobility levels. However, recent technological advances increased the use of transportation causing a massive rise in greenhouse emissions. The EPA has identified six common air pollutants: ozone, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and lead. Automobiles play a large role in the emissions of many of these types of dangerous pollutants, emitting four of the six common pollutants into the environment. These vehicle emissions lead to consequences such as climate change as well as drastically degraded air quality that is leading to an increase in lifelong health issues such as asthma, cancer, and heart attacks.
Even though automobiles contribute 56% of emissions in the air, they are not the only main source; cruise ships are a big competitor as well. Moving a giant cruise ship burns a lot of fuel, which is why, per passenger, cruise ships emit 3 to 4 times more CO2 than jets. It is reported that the Carnival cruise line emits more sulfur dioxide than all of Europe's cars. That's only one type of gas from one cruise line from one continent. Next time you go on a cruise, think about all the effects it has on the environment.
New alternatives are being created to reduce the number of emissions released from vehicles. For example, electric cars rely solely on electric battery power to run the vehicle, which causes them to have no need for gasoline and very low emissions. Each vehicle has its limitations, though both show a movement towards declining greenhouse emissions and taking responsibility for protecting our environment. Transportation accounts for 29% of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States alone, and using public transportation can reduce these emissions. Which then decreases the need for manufacturing new cars and extracting more fossil fuels, meaning further energy savings and fewer negative environmental impacts.
Questions:
1. What can you do to decrease the number of pollutants?
2. How can we encourage people to use public transportation instead of solely relying on their vehicles?
3. What are the next steps in improving our environment?
Sources:
17 comments:
Based on the information about cars, I will use my car less to reduce pollutants. I didn’t realize how much cars contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, so I will walk when I have to go to walkable places and try to use other efficient means of transportation. To help make a bigger impact, we should encouraging people to use public transportation will be best. Because it will be difficult to get people off of cars, we can put an incentive to ride buses and make it more of a habit for people to ride public transportation. If we encourage people to use their cars less, we can reduce our emissions and help save the planet. We should also encourage industries to emit less greenhouse gases in factories and use more sustainable practices. The next steps to saving the world could be small, but each step will go a long way.
In countries like the United States decreasing car use by a substantial amount is unrealistic. Sprawl is too great, and infrastructure is just to far apart to live without a car in a lot of places in America. As cars are such a vital part of life in America, a good option to reduce emissions from automobiles is finding an alternative to combustion engine cars. There are several barriers electric cars face toward gaining market share in America, but price is definitely one of them. Electric cars are not typically available at budget prices, so many families are out priced when it comes to eco-friendly cars. However, countries such as Norway and Sweden have heavily subsidized electric cars, and have seen a boom in the amount of citizens that bought electric cars in return. Simple things such as installing charges around cities, and the country side go a long way toward improving chances that people may choose to go electric. We need to start making small changes now, so big changes can occur later.
1. What can you do to decrease the number of pollutants?
2. How can we encourage people to use public transportation instead of solely relying on their vehicles?
3. What are the next steps in improving our environment?
In the article it mentions the use of cars so I can decrease the use of my car and I can help the environment by reducing the amount of pollutants in the air that my car emits.We can encourage people to ride electric cars or put a extreme tax on gas to reduce the usage of cars in the area and pollutants.To do this we would need to put buses and other transportation methods in place so that we wouldn't have to put these things in place later in the future when it could be useless or useful but on a brink of time.The next steps to help improve our environment is to obviously first increase the rate of people not driving cars and to increase the use of public transportation.secondly is to reduce the use of carnival ships because it says in the passage that"Moving a giant cruise ship burns a lot of fuel, which is why, per passenger, cruise ships emit 3 to 4 times more CO2 than jets. It is reported that the Carnival cruise line emits more sulfur dioxide than all of Europe's cars. "Which shows that this is a huge issue also so we would need to get rid of this.
In our country, there are some cities that make it easy to switch to public transportation. But in others, public transportation is simply not available. This means that people would have to sacrifice a lot to take public transportation, when it is just easier to drive in their cars. Also, the fact that electric cars are very expensive hurts our chances of reducing transportation emissions. But, the price of electric cars in the future years is expected to come down once they get mass produced. This gives a positive outlook on reducing emissions. To reduce emissions personally, I can take less car rides and carpool more.
It is neccessary today that the country bands together in order to create new technologies in order reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that come from vehicles. I will try to do my part in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by switching to diesel filters and even trying to use electrical cars. I think that we should reduce the price of electrical cars so that it can be used more often than regular cars that release fossil fuels. I will also try walking and riding my bike more often instead of using a car to get from place to place.
Although many express concerns for the costs of eco friendly transportation methods, prices are always initially high for recent technologies. However, the long term benefits and price threshold outweighs its initial cost. Personally, carpooling is a viable alternative to combat this problem. Biking and walking friendly lanes should also be implemented on the community level.
To begin with, cars have become a necessity and one could even suggest an unsolvable problem. Aside from the thrill that comes with owning a vehicle, there are many factors that are adding up that will continue to prevent the decrease in CO2 emissions we want to see. People will not simply stop the use of their car for the sake of the environment due to the fact that their personal sacrifice does not outway the good it will do to the environment. Unless prohibitions can be established to restrict the gasoline emissions, it is very unlikely we will have much of an improvement when it comes to our catastrophic case.
The next step to improving our environment, and decreasing the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere is not only spreading awareness, but creating alternatives that appeal to a wider range of people. Smart cars and electric cars, although slowly rising in popularity are still few and far between. By creating models that apply to a wider audience. And converting more popular models into electric cars, people will be more likely to start buying these cars, and help us take a step forward in improving our environment
Based on the blog, I am shocked to hear about how many cars use greenhouse gas emissions; so to decrease the number of pollutants, I will start to walk or bike to places instead of using my car. It's difficult to encourage people to use public transportation more because it can be very expensive to buy a ticket or pass to even get on, probably for not where I live, but definitely some other places, many people cannot afford to switch. To improve the environment personally, I will walk and bike more.
Public transportation seems to be the easy solution to our problem, but it is not always accessible. However, on a personal level I can start to use my car less or even try to carpool more to different places with my friends. I think education is a good way to encourage others to use public transportation. If people truly know the details and the depths of how our cars are hurting our planet, they might think twice about using their car everyday. This is just wishful thinking in my opinion. We need to take larger steps in order to help the environment like regulation of emissions from factories, and more fuel efficient cars or even electric cars dominating the market. Humans have to think big and decide to make large changes in order to save the planet.
From reading this blog I now have a new perspective on transportation. It’s a bit mind boggling of how much air pollution one cruise ship can create. I’ve gone on about 10-20 cruise ships in my lifetime and boy are they fun, but i guess i should probably consider another alternative for a vacation. What i would do to decrease the number of pollutants is to sparingly use my car as a means of transportation. We could encourage people to use more public transportation instead of riding in their own vehicles by encouraging your friends and family to ride with you. I believe the next steps for improving our environment are investments in electric vehicles.
Based on the information on transportation and emissions, more investments have to be put towards public transportation and cheaper hybrid and electric cars. We should also consider making short distance public transportation taxpayer funded so more people will use it. In a period where we are headed for a sixth mass extinction and already have millions of climate refugees, drastic steps and measures have to be taken. High Speed rail should also be an option due to the fact that it will reduce both car and airplane emissions across cities. We should create bike lanes for cyclists and think about making some meters of road in cities carless (ex. Barcelona). We have the resources to make a better environment so we can live healthy and happy lives.
Some things that I could do to reduce pollutants is decrease how often I drive my car, and fly in airplanes. I can carpool to places with my friends, use public transportation, walk, or bike to places instead of driving alone. We can encourage people to use public transportation instead of driving their own vehicles by promoting the use, and adding more options of places for people to go. The next steps in improving our environment is for everyone to do the small things. Even if people carpooled once a week, this would be a huge step in saving our planet.
I find it surprising at the vast amount of pollution that cruises emit. These kind of facts reiterate how important it is to find more viable ways to transport. I believe it is necessary for public transportation to become the norm, and for cities to implement them. Carpooling and walking are also options that should be considered. Governments must enact some changes to their cities' transportation.
To decrease the number of pollutants, I can be more mindful when traveling. Now, I can be more aware when taking a cruise or flying to a destination. I also believe I can use gas more economical with this knowledge in mind. Government incentives prove beneficial in encouraging people to utilize public transportation. They have no incentive to take a bus when they can ride in the comfort of their car, so if we offer tax cuts etc, more people will feel encouraged to actually utilize these facilities. The next steps in improving our environment begin with energy alternatives especially in respect to transportation.
To decrease the number of pollutants, I will walk and ride my bike whenever possible, instead of driving. We can encourage people to use public transportation instead of their vehicles, while traveling. An issue though, is people do not want to have to take a bus to their destination, and then have to rent a car. The next steps for improving our environment, comes down to the people making changes in their lives to be more sustainable,
One way to reduce carbon emissions is to find ways to promote the usage of public transportation. The reason why the US emits a ton of carbon emissions is because its normal for everyone to take their own car everywhere instead of carpooling or using public transportation. Some public transportation, such as subways, emit less carbon in the air than a car would. Additionally, by having many people ride on one transportation vehicle, it saves energy and will reduce air pollutants caused by vehicles.
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