The Implications For Policy Development And Climate Change

Three quarters of emissions in 2004 were coming from road traffic (Woodcock, p.1930, 2009). Emissions used from transportation are forecasted to increase from the year 2007-2030 by about 80% according to studies done by James Woodcock who is currently studying climate change and health from car fuels (Woodcock, p.1930, 2009). This is due to the fact that the emissions from vehicles are increasing significantly and are higher than any other energy fragment (Woodcock, p.1930, 2009). The only way to lower this percentage is to decrease the number of individual automobiles on the road and increase the number of public transit systems, starting long distance walking to work or school, carpooling or even biking to destinations. These principles would

The U.S government has been actively involved in overseeing emission standards for years. This corresponds with the statement made by the U.S Department of transportation that, “Transportation is the largest end-use sector emitting CO2”, and also the statement released by the NRCAN in which, “Fuel usage & carbon dioxide emissions have grown steadily over the past two decades.” These factors are only to be associated with your average four door sedan and/or light truck. These do not include your 18 wheelers, heavy trucks, or the gas guzzling vans that emit more carbon dioxide into the air and are also on the road more today than ever have been before. Cars are readily and easily obtainable more so now than ever have been. This creates more fuel to be burned up in which produces more toxins to be constantly released into the atmosphere. In fact, according to Scientific American “cars relate as much as 30 gallons of GHG, while only driving 3 miles.” These miles can be correlated with something just as simple as your average work commute. According to the United States Census Bureau, “Nearly 600,000 full-time workers had "megacommutes" of at least 90 minutes and 50 miles.” Those workers alone would each be releasing up to 500 gallons of GHG. These can be considered some of the bigger factors that the greenhouse gasses have taken a toll on.

We can involve climate change in our daily activities, like living in energy-efficient homes and energy-efficient places, Minimizing polluting transportation and eating less meat. According to Professor Jonathan Taylor, Southern California is one of the energy-efficient places in the U.S. Living in energy-efficient places would lead to less carbon emissions and minimizing transportation which does not cause a lot of pollution. Pollution leads to climate change. Buses and cars are major causes of pollution. Walking and cycling are healthier, does not cause pollution and good for your health. We should eat less meat because it leads to less greenhouse emissions (Taylor, 25th February).

In 2012, transportation accounted for 19% of the total global energy consumption, 96% of which was produced by fossil fuels [1, p. 201]. Furthermore, air transport is the most carbon intensive mode of transportation, accounting for approximately 10 times more carbon emissions than road transport and 100 times more than shipping (per tonne km) [2, p. 4].

The effect of all this excess extra carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is that the overall temperature of the planet is increasing (global warming). Whilst the average global temperature is increasing, on a day-to-day level the climate is changing in unpredictable ways. To try and reduce the risk of continued adverse effects we need to reduce how much fossil fuel we are burning. Australia is currently has the highest CO2 emissions per capita. Figure 1 shows a graphical comparison to all the other developed countries and how Australia is lacking severely behind in terms of CO2 emissions.

According to an analysis by Rich Pirog of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, “transportation accounts for only 11% of food’s carbon footprint.” Forbes also notes that it “is not food miles but apples per gallon,” implying that transportation is not the primary cause of greenhouse gasses (C). A chart excerpted from an environmental magazine visualizes the total greenhouse gas emission from factory products, measuring the climate impact in metric tons of CO2 per household-year due to transportation, production, and wholesale. Of all products, production showed to be most harmful towards the environment, releasing over five times more emission than that of transportation and wholesale/retail. Some might again argue that the problem is not the “where” or “how,” but “what is being made.” Referring back to the graph, red meat proves to emit much more greenhouse gas than any other product (D). Another solution can be to cut down on red meat or become a hearty vegan. Locavores strongly believe in buying local produce to decrease pollution; one way or another, distance is the least of our problems — it is all about how the products are

Gold Coast vehicle owners are currently faced with concerns relating to the amount of carbon emissions being released into the atmosphere whilst idling in traffic congestion. This is highlighted through their daily, lengthy car journeys caused by the increase in population. Although these carbon emissions have a direct impact on the immediate environment it is also contributing to the decline of coral growth on the Great Barrier Reef.

My ecological footprint is smaller compared to the average American footprint. I have seen that mobility is one of the factors that contribute most to my ecological footprint. For this reason, I have to find ways to transport using ecofriendly options. Also, I can buy goods that produce less Co2

Political consumers in the United States as well as in Europe tend to match the well-established pattern of traditional political action. Traditional political action tends to reflect patterns of societal inequalities (Verba, Scholzman, and Brady 1995). Those likely to engage in political behaviors are males, white/majority members, the educated, those with a higher socioeconomic level, as well as older people (Dalton 2008; Norris 2002; Verba, Scholzman, and Brady 1995). In European countries and the United States, most if not all of the same socio-demographic groups are more likely to engage in political consumption and green consumerism. However, there are a few exceptions in that younger people and females are as likely, if not more likely,

This article critically examines the ways in which individuals could help reduce the impacts of global warming. The author challenges that every individual could significantly minimise the effects of global warming by adopting to a more responsible lifestyle.

Transportation is the number one thing we consumers do that harms the environment. Transportation causes the highest amount of environmental damage overall - nearly half of the toxic air pollution and more than a quarter of the greenhouse gases traceable to household consumption. Over time, however, sales of trucks, vans and SUV's went from 16% market share to over 50%. One big auto manufacturer even shelved their work of the last three years, spent updating their most popular selling economy car, so they could spend the money getting SUVs to market faster.

On your weekly trip to the supermarket it’s easy to find a number of products, from coffee to dishwashing soap, that flaunt their green attributes” (American Psychological Association, 2010). With such rumors of greenwashing, consumers are more confused than ever. However, some consumers know the tricks and are coming to find that there are companies whose marketing practices are legit, not exaggerated or deceiving. APA also found that, “people are willing to spend more of their hard-earned green on green products, according to a 2008 survey of 9,000 adults performed by the global business firm Boston Consulting Group” (American Psychological Association, 2010). Consumers who are willing to pay more for a product or service are assuming that they are purchasing a healthier, safer, and better quality product or service for the environment.

Researchers have proved that more than the increasing rate of population in certain developing countries; it is the per-capita negative impact that First world countries are having on sustenance of the world environment that is responsible for the climate change in the world. According to Environmental Research Letters, seven advanced countries are responsible for 63% of the world’s activities leading to global warming (Malone 2014). Though United States emits most of the carbon and greenhouse gases but when evaluated based on national population UK has the highest per person pollution levels. Recently some developing countries like China are catching up in pollution emission with developed countries but yet again a large portion of these emissions in transferred to the countries that consume these products produced in developing countries (Matthews 2014). Thus as the paper states “As a consequence, a substantial portion of recent emissions from developing countries could be equally allocated to the developed countries that consume the goods produced” (Matthews, 2014, p.8). Despite this huge amount of historical contribution in large scale of air, water

Automobiles are a major producer of greenhouse gas. One gallon of fuel burned puts five pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Let’s say that an average car gets 25 miles to the gallon, and that car has a ten gallon tank. Every time a car gets filled up with gas, another fifty pounds of carbon dioxide have been put back into the atmosphere, and that is just one car. The automobile industry is very important to the world economy, so I am not saying that we should stop making cars, but there are other solutions. The recent trend of hybrid electric cars that get up to fifty miles to the gallon are becoming more popular. Also public transportation is very important. City dwellers that live downtown, do not need to drive their cars to work. Every major city has a form of public transportation that can get anyone around the city, and for that gallon of gas a bus burns the same five pounds reaches the atmosphere, but instead of one

Using that methodology the air trapped in the ice can be tested to determine atmospheric gases in the past. The speed in which temperature has increased over the last few decades is alarming compared to the rate over the last century. Global surface temperature has increased 0.6 degrees Celsius in the past thirty years, and 0.8 in the last century (Hansen 14288). The significant increase can be directly related to the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. For the last 650,000 years, atmospheric CO2 has never been above 300 parts per million (Hansen 14288). In 1950 CO2 parts per million were at 280, today they are at 380. Direct observations indicate that CO2 is rising sharply due to human activity (Cook). The main source of CO2 emissions is the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas in power plants, automobiles, and industrial facilities (United States Environmental Protection Agency). It is most evident in the addition of automobiles on the road today. Motor vehicles have been rising by 3.69 million each year since 1960. Currently there are over 255 million registered passenger vehicles on the road today (U.S Department Of Transportation).