The world has changed into a whole new level of inventions ever since mankind had discovered what the burning of fossil fuel can do. Skipping through a whole lot of inventions, the automobile was and still is one of the greatest one that is currently used today with the burning of fossil fuel. Not so long ago, scientists noticed that the temperature was rising and they found out it is because of the burning of fossil fuels that give off carbon dioxide, which increases the greenhouse effect and heats the planet—the process we call global warming. There are many sources that affect it such as nature itself like a forest fire. Automobile is the main source due to the need of transportation.
“Us, humans, rely on air to survive but we are largely responsible for air pollution” (Air Pollution, 1). Air pollution is caused by the release of toxic or damaging particles and gases into the atmosphere and it is also caused by a variety of things. When humans burn fossil fuel, miniscule particles escape into the atmosphere. “These particles form black carbon, which is one of the most common forms of air pollution.” (Air Pollution, 1) Very few scientists believe that it isn’t us that is causing this, but majority believe it is. When cars are used and burn fossil fuel, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxide noxious gases are released into the atmosphere. Due to these gases being in the atmosphere, it can make the air unsafe to breathe. One of the causes from the mixing of these chemicals is acid rain. Normal rain is slightly acidic with the dissolved carbon dioxide but acid rain contains sulfuric and nitric acid making it 1000 times more acidic and is more dangerous to living things. Acid rain can harm the environment in many ways such harming the vegetation. Living things such as crops don’t grow well in acid conditions because certain enzymes are unable to function in acid conditions. These conditions wouldn’t be like this if there wasn’t as many cars as there is now. The world is filled with fuel-running cars and a solution has to come soon before it’s too late.
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Global warming or climate change is also another severe consequence of air pollution. Cars play a big impact in this again due to the burning of fossil fuel. Scientists call it the greenhouse effect which is when hot air is held in the planet. “Rising temperatures caused polar ice caps to melt quickly which causes massive bodies of ice drip into the ocean, sea levels rise and threaten to flood low-lying coastal areas.”(Air Polllution, 1) Not only is it raising sea levels but also has the wildlife at risk, increasing risk of drought, fire, and floods, stronger storms, more heat-related illnesses and disease, etc.
When it gets to people dying, it’s time to do something. “In 2003, extreme heat waves caused more than 20,000 deaths in Europe and more than 1,500 deaths in India.” The number of deaths is unacceptable especially if we’re the cause of it. Scientists believe it is due to climate change and predict there are more to come. Due to climate change increasing, the infectious diseases will be more able to spread because warmer temperatures allow disease-carrying insects, animals to survive areas where they were once in a cold area.
But that’s not all, there’s a whole list of dangerous effects that come from the burning of fossil fuel. Such as smog, which causes children and the elderly to be in a life threatening situation because children’ lungs are still developing. On the other hand, most of the elders lose the red blood cell that lets diseases go out of control. “The costs of air pollution are enormous”, as a fourth grader, Jordan A Cowl, said to on a letter that he wrote for the Newsport News. We need more people like Jordan, only a fourth grader and he has his eyes open while the other half of the world decides to ignore the fact that people are dying because of the burning of fossil fuels.
The burning of fossil fuel by cars is a great factor on carbon dioxide causing global warming. “Data on the long-term CO2 trend show that the CO2 level remained stable around 280 ppm during the last 10,000 years. Then CO2 began to rise around the time of the Industrial Revolution, and is now 38 percent higher than pre-industrial levels.” (Human-Produced Carbon Dioxide Contributes to Global Warming, 3) The first automobile was created during the Industrial Revolution by Carl Benz. When he created that, everything started to change, including the use of fossil fuels by humans. By time, people needed more transportation and more people bought more cars. Then after a while, even bigger brains than Carl decided to create a faster automobile. In order for that to happen it needed a stronger motor and that stronger motor required more fuel than the ones before. As time passed, the automobiles became stronger and bigger and more people around the world bought them. It is quite obvious that the automobile has affected global warming since the day it was invented. Cars are being used everywhere by everyone. The following chart shows the amount of cars sold in the last few years.
Non-fueled cars, such as hybrid and electric cars, lower the risks of all the effects that global warming can cause. We all know that the biggest factor that causes global warming is the automobiles that use fuel. “Some people hope to lower down the amount of carbon in the atmosphere that contributes to global warming”, (Hybrid and Electric Cars, 1). The author says that implying that people want to do something to stop global warming and by doing that, they buy electric and hybrid cars instead of power-fueled cars. If these types of cars start spreading, the temperature of the earth will not be increasing as much as before because they do not run on gas and have no tailpipe. People who drive and electric car save about $13,000 on fuel and use 6,1000 fewer gallons of gasoline. It is more economical in the money and it also doesn’t require gas. If everyone did this, they would be helping the environment in many ways because they are reducing global warming, not including that they would be saving money on gas. They can save at an average of $975 per year when compared to a normal vehicle.
While in the other hand, hybrid cars are very similar to electric cars. Hybrid cars are an alternative solution that doesn’t run on gas, just like the electric cars. When a gallon of gasoline is burned, the carbon dioxide combines with oxygen and makes it twenty pounds of carbon dioxide. Hybrid cars run on electric motors though and they can definitely reduce the dangerous risks that global warming brings to earth. For example, smog -combination of smoke and fog- can be reduced by 90%. Smog is harmful to human beings by harming the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. It can bring heart problems, bronchitis, asthma, and other lung problems to living things and even to a very fit person.
Now some people may argue that these types of cars aren’t just fast enough for them but is it really worth it? If we continue to damage the earth like this, who knows how the next generation are going to control it. “Plants and animals might not be able survive these sudden changes that come from global warming and could become extinct.”(Global Warming, 3) Plants give us oxygen and without them we won’t be able to live on this planet. Animals give us meat, we eat them to stay alive as well not including the loss of farmland as well. “According to World Health Organization, about 7 million people died in 2012 due to air pollution”(Air Pollution, 3) They found connections linking to health problems such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and respiratory diseases. The number of these deaths are going to continue increasing because car companies will not stop making cars that run on fuel. So does speed really matter when it comes to 7 million people dying in one year, just from air pollution.
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