Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
For the past decade, the United States government has tried to lower air pollution levels through legislation. Because car emissions are probably the greatest contributor to air pollution, states like California have initiated strict "zero emission vehicle" policies in 1990. Under this mandate, all vehicles in California are required to follow strict emissions guidelines. The Environmental Protection Agency is set to phase in similar antismog standards in the rest of the country beginning in 2004 (Ball).
The need for zero emissions vehicles has spurred auto manufacturers to develop new vehicle technologies that cut down on these emissions.
For example, many auto companies are now marketing cars powered by batteries and fuel cells (Ball). By using alternative sources of energy, these vehicles do not produce smog-causing emissions like cars with traditional gasoline-powered engines.
Scientists have also made strides in developing cleaner gasoline for vehicles that still need fossil fuel.
The EPA, for example, recently recognized New York City's Metropolitan Transit Authority for its hybrid-electric buses. These new buses use ultra-low sulfur diesel, which significantly reduces their sulfur and nitrogen oxide emissions (Wachs).
In addition to reducing emissions, however, these hybrid-electric buses also provide up to 50% better fuel efficiency. By providing clean, fuel-efficient mass transit, these hybrid-electric buses contribute greatly to lowering air pollution levels in New York City.
Many industries are also adapting new technologies to reduce their impact on air quality. Researchers at Lehigh University, for example, have developed a new process to convert the paper industry's pulp mill waste into useful chemicals. Under the previous process, paper companies incinerate these waste chemicals, releasing gasses like carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere (Wachs).
However, the new process allows companies to take the previously incinerated waste streams and manufacture commodity chemicals like formaldehyde. Many paper technologies adopted this new technology, eager to profit from their previous waste products. In the process, they also eliminate their carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide emissions (Wachs).
Though controversial, many experts are also pushing for the use of nuclear technology. Today's nuclear reactors have stricter safety features that incorporate lessons learned from past nuclear disasters, like Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. Currently, nuclear power supplies six percent of global and is a renewable resource (Wachs).
Many other solutions have been proposed to address the problem of the increasing greenhouse effect and global warming. British ecologist Norman Myers, for example, believes that the problem could only be addressed through a combination of approaches. These involve reducing human population by increasing contraception, reducing wasteful consumption and reducing poverty in the developing world. These holistic approaches address the myriad of environmental and social conditions that give rise to global warming (Morgan 56).
Conclusion
In summary, the greenhouse effect has steadily worsened with industrialization, as humans engage in activities that alter the natural balance of greenhouse gases. Restoring these gases to their natural levels requires concerted effort, both through legal and technological means. Instead, this task will require a fundamental shift in lifestyle, particularly for people in the Western world, where most of the fossil fuel is consumed. People must be willing to make sacrifices, to use less gas and to convert to more renewable energy sources.
Whether such changes can be made before the greenhouse effect becomes irreversible, however, remains to be seen.
Works Cited
Ball, Jeffrey. "Fuel for Debate: California Clean-Air Czar's Shift Is New Boost for Diesel Engines." Wall Street Journal. October 24, 2002. Proquest Database.
Morgan, Sally. Global Warming. Chicago: Reed Publishing, 2003.
Robbins, Gary. "UCI's research influential Series: warming." Orange County Register. January 6, 2003: A3. Proquest Database.
United States Environmental Protection Agency.. "Emissions." Global Warming. 23 April 2006. United States Environmental Protection Agency. 23 April 2006 http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/webprintview/Emissions.html.
Wachs, Gail. "U.S. environmental protection agency honors innovators for improving air quality." Pollution Engineering, 34(6). June. 8-11, 2002. Proquest Database.
Works Cited
Ball, Jeffrey. "Fuel for Debate: California Clean-Air Czar's Shift Is New Boost for Diesel Engines." Wall Street Journal. October 24, 2002. Proquest Database.
Morgan, Sally. Global Warming. Chicago: Reed Publishing, 2003.
Robbins, Gary. "UCI's research influential Series: warming." Orange County Register. January 6, 2003: A3. Proquest Database.
United States Environmental Protection Agency.. "Emissions." Global Warming. 23 April 2006. United States Environmental Protection Agency. 23 April 2006 http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/webprintview/Emissions.html.
Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming The modern world, while no doubt has provided us with immense luxuries and facilities, it has also come at a cost that our future generation will have to pay. The modernization of our world has meant that our towns and cities expand more and more, and increasingly greater pressure is being put on our planet; this is true, not only in terms of the demands for
There are several models using the scientific method used to measure and support the concept of global warming. Scientists are measuring items that have remained on Earth for millions of years, such as the ice core samples, but they are also measuring tree rings and other living indicators of the Earth's temperature. Scientist Johansen continues, "By 1998, the Earth had sustained 20 consecutive years above the 1961 to 1990 average
Ecosystem Dynamics Relative to Repair and Restoration Ecological restoration activities are created to reverse the effect of previous human activities that damaged important parts of ecosystems. Terry L. Root, senior fellow with Stanford's Institute for International Studies affirms in one of her studies that "One thing we might do now is to consider adjusting the bag limits for hunters so we don't add insult to injury in the coming years. Because
Much oil is also used for heating, especially during winter. Therefore, new commitments toward researching, developing, and making available, on a large scale, alternative sources of heating must be made, and this time kept, as well. Conclusion To try seriously, however, to identify and describe one core "solution" to oil dependency; that is both untested and would nevertheless work, in this author's opinion, is (and especially given even the current extent
According to Knowlton, “we realize now like never before that our human activities affect the biosphere, the environment, and in turn what happens in the environment affects our human health in a very intimately connected way” (Lila Films, 2011). It therefore follows that the continued emission of greenhouse gases does indeed threaten public health both in the short-run and in the long-term. For instance, the emission of greenhouse gases has
22), and this may be one reason the United States is not participating in the Kyoto Protocol, the limits and agreements reached with 178 other nations are not effective in this country. With disregard for solutions such as Kyoto, it seems difficult to see how a global principle of fairness can be reached at all. Clearly, economic fairness must also be discussed in the principle of fairness. Singer notes that