Automobiles are a piece of modern-day technology that is used frequently today. We use cars every day from going to places we need to go or just go to meet up with friends. Just thinking about America with no cars is unbelievable and quiet scary, but cars are affecting the world, negatively. They pollute the air with gases, they cost a lot just to have, and they cause a large amount of accidents every year. Cars are becoming a problem every year and we don’t even notice that they are. First of all, cars pollute the atmosphere with horrible gases. In the article, “Running off the Road” by Grover Kingsley, it says, “The auto is a huge contributor to greenhouse gas emissions…a whopping 28% of emissions came from transportation…cars constantly …show more content…
In the article, “America’s Key to Freedom” by Carol Domblewski, it says, “…expense of automobiles and suggested that their price is too steep.” Also, in “Facts Along the Road,” it says, “The average cost of owning and operating a car is more than $8000 per year…In 2011, traffic congestion cost the US $121 billion.” Also, in the article, “Running off the Road,” it says, “The cost of owning a car averages $8,876 per year.” This is a lot of money spent just to keep a car. There are other ways to get to your destination. In the article, “Running off the Road,” it says, “Using public transit…allows people to enjoy…while they ride…new, tech-savvy businesses offer ways for people to avoid the costs and problems associated with owning a car in a big city…thriving car-sharing and carpooling systems…a whopping 3,500 commuters bundle up and bike to work along the city’s Midtown Greenway.” All these ways either reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions or they don’t emit greenhouse gases at all. Also, all these ways of transportation are cheaper than a car. In conclusion, cars cost a lot to watch after and there are other ways to get to the same destination without the use of all that
Imagine how life would be if our society did not have cars. Today, our society is dependent on cars for our daily routines. From transporting our food, clothes, and technology to just going to the store across the street, cars are a very important part of our society. In the 19th century, only the wealthy and upper middle class had access to automobiles, and they only used cars for fancy transportation and to show off their money. This was due to the extreme prices of cars in the 19th century. With these high prices not many people could afford them, especially not the working class. Henry Ford revolutionized the automotive industry in the
With a declining or no use of cars can result in the reduction of pollution quite tremendously. They can by reducing the greenhouse effect. As the author reports in the article, “In German Suburb Life Goes On Without Care” by Elisabeth Rosenthal, “Passenger cars are responsible for 12 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe… and up to 50 percent in some car-intensive areas in the United States.” Therefore, with cars being a leading factor of greenhouse gas emissions, reducing their usage would have a positive effect on the environment. After days of near-record pollution,
In 1914, Henry Ford transformed the entire world by manufacturing bulk of automobiles and these automobiles completely changed our way of travelling. They became an integral part of our society and we all are dependent upon them. But the way coin has two sides there are pros and cons of automobiles. The economic cost of manufacturing and owing a vehicle can be ignored but there are various global effects which affect our everyday life and can’t be ignored. Few of them are environmental impact, noise pollution, emission of greenhouse gases, congestion from road infrastructure etc. But the most stunning effect is the economic and social burden caused by accidents and fatalities. In 1999 alone about 750,000 people died globally in road related
Automobiles play a major role in today's society. Almost every American owns at least one motorized transportation vehicle. Some say they make our lives better by reaching places faster than before. Others say they are a harmful to the environment. Have they made our society better or worse? They may be fast, but do we as humans want our environment to suffer because of time. Face it, cars pollute. And they release destructive chemicals into the air. Air pollution can threaten the health of many subjects in the environment including human beings.
The U.S government has been actively involved in overseeing emission standards for years. This corresponds with the statement made by the U.S Department of transportation that, “Transportation is the largest end-use sector emitting CO2”, and also the statement released by the NRCAN in which, “Fuel usage & carbon dioxide emissions have grown steadily over the past two decades.” These factors are only to be associated with your average four door sedan and/or light truck. These do not include your 18 wheelers, heavy trucks, or the gas guzzling vans that emit more carbon dioxide into the air and are also on the road more today than ever have been before. Cars are readily and easily obtainable more so now than ever have been. This creates more fuel to be burned up in which produces more toxins to be constantly released into the atmosphere. In fact, according to Scientific American “cars relate as much as 30 gallons of GHG, while only driving 3 miles.” These miles can be correlated with something just as simple as your average work commute. According to the United States Census Bureau, “Nearly 600,000 full-time workers had "megacommutes" of at least 90 minutes and 50 miles.” Those workers alone would each be releasing up to 500 gallons of GHG. These can be considered some of the bigger factors that the greenhouse gasses have taken a toll on.
It has little to no effect to the environment when one car is on the road, but what if there are three billion other cars on the road? With the amount of carbon dioxide discharged into the air, diseases are forming, natural resources are diminishing, ice caps are melting. Who is held responsible for this? Who is responsible for the carbon dioxide debt that we owe the planet? Essentially, the government is held responsible for this clutter. Because of the lack of regulation and promotion from the government, citizens are mindlessly wasting water, littering trash, and overexploiting nature for its valuable resources. Therefore, the government must be held responsible for fostering green practices.
Chapter 6, “The Burden of History: Expectations Past and Imperfect” from Kirsch’s book, The Electric Vehicle and the Burden of History, focuses on the problem of automobiles in the modern day. Kirsch states that internal combustion engines release greenhouse gasses, which harm the environment. Each individual contributes to air pollution
Automobiles create many problems for the environment and the government. Pollution is created from cars, and people are dying from cancer and heart
The automobile is a huge part of American history. Many people say that it was the key to freedom. However, many people now say that the automobile is a bad thing, because of its negative effects to the environment and people. I think that the automobile is still a good thing for America. I think this because it gave people freedom, it gave people joy, and it also gave many people jobs.
Climate change and transportation play a big role and it is important to be concerned for our future generations. The use of gasoline cars is a major producer in carbon dioxide emissions, although they are not entirely responsible for it—they play a role in it. Other form of transportations like buses and taxis also contribute to carbon dioxide emissions. The total amount of carbon dioxide emissions from an average car is seventy six percent which comes from usage of a vehicle containing gasoline. Efficiency has increased by twenty percent in regards to electric motors, especially when it comes to their wheels using no power when the car is at rest. Car ownership will increase and with this, improvements in technology could be a vital
The automobile has had a tremendous impact on society and the environment since its development in the beginning of the 20th century. Today, there are over 500 million motor vehicles on the earth. The automobile's efficiency, style, and performance have changed over the years, but there is one thing that has not - the pollution the automobile generates. Because of the pollution, people find themselves asking whether this technology has helped our society or hurt it. Should the consequences of the automobile be cause to eliminate it? Or should science develop technology to eliminate the pollution caused by the car?
“Automobiles have a large impact on the quality of our environment and public health. Automobile use affects virtually every aspect of environmental quality - including noise levels, air quality, water pollution, and urban sprawl. Ninety percent of the environmental impact of automobiles occurs through the operation of the cars: about 10 percent from the production, raw materials and disposal of
Being lazy is a great thing because so much time is saved. Time may be saved, but in exchange, the environment gets destroyed instead. Driving a car to work may be faster, but it also destroys the environment so much faster. Biking to the store serves the same purpose and it saves the environment greatly. Cars are a huge contributor to global warming. Cars and trucks combined are responsible for one-fifth of all US emissions. They release about 24 pounds of carbon dioxide and other global warming gases for every gallon of gas used (Union of Concerned Scientists). About five pounds of those gases come from production, extraction, and delivery of gasoline. More than 19 pounds are released per gallon from a car's tailpipe (Union of Concerned Scientists). 1.2 billion cubic yards of polluted air is from manufacture. Painting and coating cars produces 40 million pounds of air releases and 24 million pounds of hazardous waste a year. A car's lifetime produces 1.3 billion cubic yard of polluted air and scatters 40 pounds of worn tire particles, brake debris, and worn road surface into the atmosphere (Bike to Work Day). Pollutants released a year add up to over 12,140 lbs for cars and 17,000 for light trucks. Some of those pollutants are carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides (Bike to Work Day). By choosing to bike or walk instead of drive, the amount of gases and waste contributing to global warming, drops drastically. Choosing to drive instead of taking a greener form of transportation is a great threat to the environment.
Automobiles are undeniable the greatest source of pollution. The noise pollution created by cars is immense. Another polluting effect of cars is the heat it creates. This heat makes it unpleasant to be near the car while its running. And of course the most famous
Automobiles are a major producer of greenhouse gas. One gallon of fuel burned puts five pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Let’s say that an average car gets 25 miles to the gallon, and that car has a ten gallon tank. Every time a car gets filled up with gas, another fifty pounds of carbon dioxide have been put back into the atmosphere, and that is just one car. The automobile industry is very important to the world economy, so I am not saying that we should stop making cars, but there are other solutions. The recent trend of hybrid electric cars that get up to fifty miles to the gallon are becoming more popular. Also public transportation is very important. City dwellers that live downtown, do not need to drive their cars to work. Every major city has a form of public transportation that can get anyone around the city, and for that gallon of gas a bus burns the same five pounds reaches the atmosphere, but instead of one