“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.