Living without a car can seem like a total dysfunction or a step down in statist, but the truth is that life without a car is one small mental inconvenience for you, one giant step for mankind!
Between the effects of global warming, particle pollutants and lack of health benefits in driving;
Yes, your car is killing you!
Let’s take a look at the some simple facts about global warming:
- In the U.S. there are 232 million registered vehicles which amount to almost one per person including non drivers.
- One US car per year consumes about 600 gallons of gas each year and emits over 12,000 pounds of carbon dioxide.
- Automobile emissions account for more than 45 percent of the world’s automotive carbon dioxide emissions each year even though the US has only 5% of the world’s population
The average commute to work is 11.6 miles according to the US Department of Transportation.
That daily commute would produce 0.08932 pounds of Hydrocarbons, 0.638 pounds of Carbon Monoxide, 0.0406 pounds of Nitrogen Oxides, and 11.6 pounds of Carbon Dioxide per day. While that doesn’t seem too bad, if we factor in the 260 days one travels to the job every day then we have the staggering numbers of23.2232 pounds of Hydrocarbons, 165.88 pounds of Carbon Monoxide, 10.556 pounds of Nitrogen Oxides, and 3016 pounds of Carbon Dioxide!
Now just multiple that for everyone that works in our office or lives on your street or passes on your way to work. Now think about all the other times you get into your car when you are not going to work!
Aside from the most general apocalyptical scenarios attributed to global warming and the eventually extinction of mankind, we can still keep this simple and look at basic facts regarding the effects of global warming and health.
Life without a car kills smog: Global warming and the effects of increased organic compounds increase the production of smog.
Smog forms when sunlight, heat and relatively stagnant air meet up with nitrogen oxides and various volatile organic compounds. In addition to your car adding to the nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere, the actual warming of the basic earth temperatures will cause more smog as well. More hot days mean better conditions for creating smog that can trigger asthma and other breathing problems.
According to Dr. John Balmes of the American Lung Association, higher smog levels “may cause or exacerbate serious health problems, including damage to lung tissue, reduced lung function, asthma, emphysema, bronchitis and increased hospitalizations for people with cardiac and respiratory illnesses.”
Exposure to smog can do serious damage to our lungs and respiratory systems. Inflammation and irritation can cause shortness of breath, throat irritatioan, chest pains and coughing and lead to asthma attacks, hospital admissions and emergency room visits. These consequences are more severe if people are exposed while being active.
“The number of people with asthma in this country has more than doubled over the past 25 years, led by soaring rates in children” says Dr. John Balbus, head of Environmental Defense’s health program. “With climate change worsening smog in some areas and altering pollen levels, future air quality may pose a greater threat to our health, especially those of us with asthma and other lung diseases.”
Cure cancer: the soot and fumes from cars, trucks and buses are linked to asthma, lung and heart disease and cancer
directly
Scientists have long known that air pollution from trucks and cars is bad for your health. What’s new is that over the last decade, scientists have looked more closely at street-level exposure and found a high-risk zone of about 500 to 1500 feet. The latest science also points to more severe health risks in localized “hot spots” than air pollution measurements would suggest.
Combustion sources burn fuels and emit gases. These gases can vaporize and then condense to become a particle of the same chemical compound. Or, they can react with other gases or particles in the atmosphere to form a particle of a different chemical compound. Particles formed by this latter process come from the reaction of elemental carbon (soot), heavy metals, sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds with water and other compounds in the atmosphere. Studies validate earlier research showing a strong relationship between particle pollution and illness, hospitalization and premature death.
According to the findings from some of the latest studies, short-term increases in automotive induced particle pollution have been linked to:
- death from respiratory and cardiovascular causes, including strokes.
- increased mortality in infants and young children
- increased numbers of heart attacks, especially among the elderly and in people with heart conditions
- inflammation of lung tissue in young, healthy adults
- increased hospitalization for cardiovascular disease, including strokes and congestive heart failure
- increased emergency room visits for patients suffering from acute respiratory ailments
- increased hospitalization for asthma among children
- increased severity of asthma attacks in children
- Chronic exposure to particle pollution can shorten life by one to three years.
- Other impacts range from premature births to serious respiratory disorders, even when the particle levels are very low.
Even if you decide that you don’t believe in global warming and you don’t care about children and asthma, other studies have shown that really, walking is the best form of exercise anyway! Join the growing number of walkers in America,
get inspired by reading America’s Most Walkable Cities – Best Cities in the US to Live & Walk
In. Not to mention, that the average cost of owning a car in the US is almost 20 thousand dollars, so imagine how much one has to stress and work just to pay for their car!
Life without a car is not impossible. You might think that your car is necessary to your life, but really the truth is that your car is not just killing you, your car is killing us all.
Bottom line: Save a life; Sell your
car!
Read our How to Get Fast Cash for Cars article for some useful tips.
Learn more about why choose us to buy your car and call us today at 1-888-44-BUCKS or 1-888-44-8257
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Tags: air pollution and health risks, car air pollution, vehicle air pollution
nowadays there is too much pollution in the air. most of the pollution from the air comes from fossil fuels. maybe someday we would use less and less of fossil fuesl in favor of clean and renewable energy sources.