“Road traffic is the fastest growing source of pollution in Europe and in some countries more people are dying as a result of this air pollution than are being killed in accidents” (ibike). Vehicles emit poisonous gases that are hard to overcome in our environment, and over the past fifty years we have been struggling to contain the emissions. Vehicles are growing at a rapid pace all over the world for one of the leading sources of transportation. Vehicles were introduced in the late 19th and literally took off in the early 20th century. Richard O. Davies, University Foundation Professor of History at the University of Nevada and writer of The Age of Asphalt: The Automobile, the Freeway, and the Condition of Metropolitan America, explained the best of how automobiles affected the society in America by saying, “the automobile not only provided reasonable, reliable, transportation, but also became part of the important imagery and symbolism that affects American daily life.” As Americans began driving more, more roads needed to be laid in order to support the vehicle boom. One leading cause to why vehicles became so popular, however, was the introduction of the freeway system established in 1956. The freeway system in America was produced during the Eisenhower’s presidential term, and he wasn’t going to resist to the public’s enthusiasm towards having the freeway system. The public’s enthusiasm consisted of city planners, who loved the idea of suburban residents commuting to cities to work, local politicians, enjoyed ninety percent funding from the federal government, road builders and contractors, saw job opportunities opening up all over the country, and oil companies, who saw more cars in which needed more fuel. The public saw a new and exciting possibility with the freeway system which is understandable because of the opportunity to go faster and spend less time driving on crowded two-lane highways.
One problem arose, however, with the rise of vehicles. Air pollution began to become a leading environmental problem during the increase of automobiles being driven. Air toxins that are emitted from vehicles are produced by gasoline that evaporates in the air as unburned fuel. The Environmental Protection Agency of the United States is a government agency that is in charge of protecting the environment. The Environmental Protection Agency listed the total poisonous emissions produced by passenger vehicles on average per year: 77.1 pounds of hydrocarbons, 575 pounds of carbon monoxide, 38.2 pound of oxides of nitrogen, 11,450 pounds of carbon monoxide, and 581 gallons of gasoline. With numbers like that being produced by America each year, it would be shocking to know the total emissions of the entire world. Vehicle emissions are also being blamed for global warming, which may become one of the largest environmental problem we may face.
Global warming has been a topic of debate of whether or not it is having an affect on our environment. One of the leading causes that can be blamed for global warming would be the depletion of ozone that helps regulate greenhouse gases. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is an American based agency that regulates the ocean and atmosphere within America’s borders. The NOAA explains greenhouse gas as “the result of heat absorption by certain gases in the atmosphere (called greenhouse gases because they effectively 'trap' heat in the lower atmosphere) and re-radiation downward of some of that heat.” Greenhouse gases acts as a sealant that holds heat in and allows a regulated temperature for our planet. Vehicles contribute to the increasing amount of greenhouse gases because of amount of carbon dioxide being emitted into the atmosphere. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, according to the NOAA, has increased over the past two hundred years from “280 parts per million by volume (ppmv), and current levels are greater than 380 ppmv and increasing at a rate of 1.9 ppm yr-1 since 2000. The global concentration of CO2 in our atmosphere today far exceeds the natural range over the last 650,000 years of 180 to 300 ppmv.” Reaching these levels may seem vague because the ppmv increased 120 units over 650,000 years, but the increase the past one hundred years seems to open your eyes to what is to come. According to James W. Little, senior air quality consultant with Dames & Moore, explained pollution in two ways. “Primary pollutants are those that are directly emitted to the atmosphere. A common example is the carbon monoxide emitted from automobile exhausts. Secondary pollutants, on the other hand, are formed in the atmosphere as the result of various transformation mechanisms involving primary pollutants or other secondary pollutants. For example, one of the pollutants of most concern in both urban and rural environments is ozone” (Environmental 127). Little and the NOAA both argue that primary pollutants are increasing at a rate that can’t be controlled, which is causing secondary pollutants to create damages within the atmosphere. Vehicles are emitting very high levels of primary pollutants, which is a reason I believe governmental or scientific steps need to be taken in order to control how we are damaging our environment.
Global warming and other air pollution problems are now being linked to automobile’s emissions. Health effects and new environmental issues are becoming more widespread because of vehicle emissions over the past century. According to the EPA, mobile (car, truck, and bus) sources of air toxics account for as much as half of all cancers attributed to outdoor sources of air toxics” (Environmental Fact Sheet). When breathing in air which contains such toxins as benzene, which is a human carcinogen, increases the chance of cancer causing organelles inside the body. Andrew Goudie, writer of The Human Impact on the Natural Environment and former geography professor at Hartford College, writes from the environmentalist prospective towards all environmental issues. Goudie explained in The Human Impact on the Natural Environment the effects humans have on the environment, in terms of pollution and everyday living like farming. In his chapter pertaining to air pollution, Goudie explained “unburnt hydrocarbons play a major role in smog formation and result from evaporation of solvents and fuels…photochemical smog appears ‘cleaner’ than other kinds of fog in the sense that it does not contain the very large particles of soot that are so characteristic of smog derived from coal-burning…eye irritation and damage to plant leaves is causes make it unpleasant” (286). The EPA and Goudie both emphasize the hazardous effects of emissions from vehicles. Eye irritation could be overlooked by some, but, in my view, cancer causing particles in the air from vehicle emissions is going too far. If air toxins are accounting for half of all (my italics) cancers, then I believe a change has to be made in order to save lives of others, and possibly myself. If the impacts air pollutants are having on humans isn’t an eye opener enough, the environmental impacts are even greater.
As automobiles are being used in more widespread and abundant numbers, it is our environment that is being the most impacted. One issue brought up by Goudie was the impact air pollution is having on other countries and areas throughout the world. “The atmosphere acts as a major channel for the transfer of pollutants from one place to another, so that some harmful substances have been transferred long distances from their sources of emission” (292). Goudie uses Greenland as an example as an isolated area being affected by air pollution. Harmful amounts of DDT have been found have been found in Greenland’s ice caps, and the cause is linked to industrial and automobile emissions. Having high amounts of DDT will further contaminate water around the area, and then, later possibly, have a negative effect on the people of the area. James W. Little also examined the idea of dispersion and depletion of emissions in the atmosphere. “The dispersion of pollutants in the atmosphere is determined by mean wind flow conditions and by atmospheric turbulence” (131). Goudie and Little both argue a strong point in which areas that are connected towards wind flow will result in a more polluted area. Little goes on to explain that depletion occurs as dry deposition and the more common form, washout. “Washout refers to the uptake of particles and gases by water droplets and snow” (133). Acid rain is a problem throughout the world because of its acidity it puts into the soil and water that eventually could poison the environment. Goudie and Little both examine the effects of automobile emissions and the impacts it has the environment. Goudie researched the lead content in the ice of Greenland, and found how the amount had grown nearly tripled since leaded gasoline began in 1940. With statistics like this being presented, it is a question of how long it could be till further, more widespread damage will occur throughout the world.

Goudie, Andrew. The Human Impact on the Natural Environment . The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 1986.

Andrew Goudie was a Geography Professor and Hartford College from 1984 to 2003. He speaks for all man kind in terms of environmental issues, and gives specific examples to how nature and man have impacted each other. Also, he pin points big companies for causing harm to the environment. We believe his audience is the general public who to learn of the impacts we have on our planet. We chose his book because of the ties our research papers will have relating to global warming, green technologies, and proper agricultural ethics. The issues Goudie introduces is the human impact on vegetation, human influence on wildlife, human impact on the soil, human impact on water, and the human impact on climate. Goudie “crops out” the economic side of farmers who use pesticides. Leaving out this side, we do not see the positive motives of why farmers use pesticides and repellents. Another issue left out by Goudie is the possible solutions that may have been researched and tested. If he had included this, he could of helped us see what progress has been reached in the past twenty years. Goudie goes into great detail about the affects humans have on soil erosion. He lists four subchapters about certain activities humans do. Examples are burning, cut down trees, and spraying soil. This is helpful in finding technologies that we used for our personal good, which caused environmental harm. Also, Goudie explains what he believed to be the three effects of global warming. For a researcher in the 1900’s, I can compare his information to today’s researchers. This source can help compare research from the past and today to evaluate the progress we have made.

Ayers, et al. Environmental Science and Technology Handbook. Government Institutes, Inc. Rockville, Maryland. 1994

Ayers, Deb, Fisher, Hattemer-Frey, Kelly, Kester, Knowles, Krieger, Little, Middel, Puszcz, Silka, Slavin, Tumulty, Vajda, and Young are a select group with a variety of backgrounds like James W. Little is a senior air quality consultant with Dames & Moore and Dr. Perry W. Fisher is a Principal and Certified Consulting Meteorologist Chicago. These two writers both see the perspective of an air quality specialist and also explore the technologies that pollute the air. The purpose the writers are trying to get across is the importance it is to have clean air on earth and also the harm some technologies are having on our air. Little and Fisher present an abundant amount of information about the types of air pollutants and the sources that emit the poisonous gases.
James Little uses his chapter to describe air quality, for example the different types, emission control methods, and a regulatory approach to air quality protection. Little uses a great amount of information to help his readers get the full understanding of how important air quality is for everyday life. Perry Fisher’s chapter is strictly limited to air pollution control technologies. He brings up technologies in vehicles that could limit the poisonous emissions that vehicles produce.

United States Environmental Protection Agency. Transportation and Air Quality. 30 March 2009. www.epa.gov/OMS/

The United States Environmental Protection Agency is an agency in the United States government to protect the environment. Jobs for this agency include making regulations, give grants, study environmental issues, and other environmental saving procedures. The agency represents the government’s voice in the issue of vehicles and air pollution. The audience would have to be listed again as the general American public. The EPA gives information regarding air quality and also the stats on other environmental issues. The EPA’s website is set up with subcategories about on-road vehicles, off-road vehicles, fuels, and research being done with transportation. The EPA puts in information they want the public to know. Things left out could possibly be technologies that are currently being tested like vehicles and fuels. They may leave them out because they don’t know the exact details yet about such things like cost and environmental impact.
The EPA has a large amount of information about vehicles and its effects on the environment. This could be a good source because it comes straight from the government and its top researchers. The EPA is constantly updating its website and keeps things up to date, which will contrast nicely towards my other sources.

The sources I found helped me expand on my question, how have vehicles effected the environment in specific air pollution and global warming. The three sources I found all had different views. The three stakeholders hold the morals of the general public (drivers), environmentalist, and the government. I feel finding different perspectives helps clear any questions my reader may have when reading my essay. I intended to use just large vehicles like trucks and SUVs for this project, but the limited amount of sources led me to change to all gasoline and diesel powered vehicles. The questions that are starting to arise from my research is trying to find the auto makers perspective when trying to engineer new technologies.