Having your own means of transport to work is the most sort after and an admirable achievement in life. Every human being is seeking flexibility and reliability in their everyday life, having a good means of transport can help one accomplish this. Public transport forces one to stick to some sort of routine. Since they provide services depending on the demand of most of the passengers. However, this form of luxury everyone is yearning for comes with some concerns especially on the energy use, health issues and the environmental pollution in general.
Energy concerns
The transport sector uses more fuel than any other sectors like industries. It has been estimated that there are over 250 million petrol cars in the USA alone. These vehicles use trillions of liters in the form of oil which is non renewable. This leads to drying up of oil wells both inshore and offshore.
There is also high use of electricity in the manufacture of the vehicles. This electricity is produced using petrol, coal and water which are not in plenty. Their reserves have been chocked due to overuse on production of power and which is dependent to the light house holds and running of machines in the factories.
Uses of resources concerns
These vehicles have been manufactured using non renewable resources like metal, plastics from petroleum products and coal which manufacture electricity in some countries. The vehicles also use petrol to operate. This leads to depletion of valuable resources on the earth's surface. Soon the earth will run out of fossil fuels to run machines in essential factories and farms which produce food and other basic needs of human beings.
Every person is craving for a high speed engine like Ferrari. These vehicles cost a fortune. If this money thathas been used to buy these vehicles could be used to buy and grow food for the poor, provide health care for the poor, building of schools it will be very valuable to many
Health concerns
Traffic jam is a common and familiar occurrence in every city especially during rush hour. It is a very uncomfortable feeling which can drive one to insanity. A person can get stuck in traffic for five hours before getting freeway. This is a very terrible situation which most people find themselves in on a daily basis,
Research has shown that traffic jams can increase the level of stress and depression on drivers, passengers and even the traffic police. This stress leads to anger which can be fatal. This anger leads to accidents which can be prevented. These accidents sometimes cause death on innocent people or leave people with fractured bones and other permanent health problems. Moreover, hospitalshave been strained by queues of people who are seeking medical attention. The resources which could be used on research like cancer treatment or have been used to settle medical bills, buy bandages and other treatment which are related to accidents.
It is also evident people on traffic eat more than they need, or their body can consume. This eating together with lack of exercise can lead to obesity. This leads to other illness like heart attacks, high blood pressure or diabetics. This lead to constraints on the family budget/ resources and also on the government since it has to produce more food to feed the nation, but it just goes to waste.
Environmental concerns
Vehicles emit a lot of smoke as wast. Moreover, the tires also wear out with time leading to their replacement, the vehicle body after a few years of service also has to be replaced. This is a lot of waste to take care of.
It is estimated that on average a vehicle emits four tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Therefore, motor vehicles are the major contributor of air pollution on earth compared to other pollutants like cement factories. A quarter or more of those who own cars do not take their vehicles for service. This means their vehicles will emit more smoke into the air and consume more gas than a service vehicle.
Studies have shown smoke contains 50% nitrogen oxide and 40% of hydrocarbon. These gases together with carbon dioxide are lethal gases on the ozone layer. When the ozone layer is damaged it leads to global warming, which in leads to change of climate and an increase in temperatures.
There is also noise created by vehicles on the road. Noise can cause mental stress hence one cannot concentrate at work and lack sleep. Noise can also lead to physical fatigue due to lack of relaxation which intern leads to other body diseases like chronic exhaustion.
There is also water pollution, which is caused by oil spills on roads which is in turn swept by rain water into water bodies like rivers, lakes or seas. The water quality is affected and the living organisms in water are suffocated due to the contamination of the water by the oil. Living organism like fish which are very essential to human nutrients are slowly being eliminated. Soon the world will run out of fish due to excessive use of motor vehicles.
Solutions
The governmental should improve the quality of rail and bus transport. Once achieved it will encourage many citizens who can afford personal cars to opt to use public means of transport. This will reduce the number of vehicles on the road which will make traffic jam a thing of the past. This will also reduce pollution caused by the vehicles on the environment.
The governments must make proper regulations in place to make sure unworthy road vehicles are not allowed on roads, and taking a vehicle to service is a mandatory requirement failure to this can lead to heavy penalties and fines.
Car manufacture firms can be encouraged to use recycled material to manufacture vehicles parts as much as possible. This will decrease one way flow of resource that is from mining to the user and finally to disposal. The disposal part should be degradable so that they do not pollute the environment.
Car manufacturers can also start producing green energy vehicles. These are vehicles which are powered by the solar system. This will reduce much dependence on petroleum products. Clean technology can dramatically bring the use of oil down. This will also reduce consumer’s consumption and leave them with some money in their pockets to save on other projects like building a home. By increasing the production of clean biofuel vehicles, we can reduce the dependence of petroleum products.
Reference
"ucsusa.org by Mobify." UCS: Independent Science, Practical Solutions | Union of Concerned Scientists. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.
"Unclean at Any Speed - IEEE Spectrum." IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.
