Automobile: The Influence On Environment

The production of the automobile was a great thing for American culture. It provided a sense of freedom for those that could afford to buy one. But they also can have a big impact on the planet. There is no doubt the automobile was a great invention. Has the environment suffered as a result of the automobile? What impact has the automobile had on the environment since its production in the early 20th Century? The production, fuel, and infrastructure all had to have a role in making the environment what it is today.

Production

The production of the automobile required the use of many resources. Manpower and lots of machine powered labor were needed to mass-produce automobiles. Human labor, the use of mechanical resources as well as other resources needed to support the machines resulted in the creation of a lot of wastes. In the 1920s there were only a small number of large companies in the car production business. The few companies began to take over the industry and increased their automobile production and eventually would be the main producers of automobiles for the world. Techniques developed by Henry Ford helped the US become a major player in the manufacturing of automobiles. Mark Foster, a historian referenced a study that found that the production of automobiles caused more environmental damage than the driving of automobiles. According to the study, an estimated 29 tons of waste came from the production of one car. From that same one car came 1,207 million cubic yards of air pollution. Materials used to process steel and aluminium to produce automobiles such as petroleum, copper, lead, iron ore take a toll on the environment. Electricity is another major factor in automobile production. Most of the automobile production industry’s power came from electricity; about 75% of electricity and the rest of the power and energy came from coal and coke, and natural gasses.

Petroleum / Gas

Gasoline used to fuel automobiles contains blends of hydrocarbons. Over 250 of them. While a car is refuelling, hydrocarbons get into the air. The car’s carburettor and gas tank release them while the car is running. The exhaust pipe sends them into the air as well. Cars also produce a poisonous gas called carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide is produced by incomplete combustion. Incomplete combustion occurs when the supply of air or oxygen is poor and water is produced. Carbon Dioxide is replaced by carbon monoxide and carbon.

Ozone is made up of three oxygen atoms and is highly reactive. Ozone occurs in the atmosphere and can either be made by humans or happen naturally. The ozone has an upper layer and a lower layer. The upper stratospheric layer is composed naturally. The lower tropospheric layer is what is affected by our automobiles.

Air Quality

Cars produce primary and secondary air pollution. Pollution that is sent directly into the atmosphere is primary. Secondary pollution is a result of different air pollutants chemically reacting with each other. The major air pollutants produced from automobiles are particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and greenhouse gasses. These pollutants affect climate change. More intense heat waves and a change in sea level can result from global warming.

Particulate matter is a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air. Soot from vehicle exhaust contains particulate matter. Exhaust from cars with diesel engines are big contributor of particulate matter.

Volatile organic compounds are pollutants for the ground level of ozone by reacting with sunlight and nitrogen oxides. This is commonly known as smog.

Carbon monoxide is a colourless odourless toxic gas formed by the incomplete combustion of carbon. Gas engines can produce over 30,000 parts per million in the exhaust. 1 ppm=1.80mg. When carbon monoxide is released into the air the number of greenhouse gasses are in the atmosphere. That can lead to warmer sea and land temperatures causing changes to ecosystems. Carbon monoxide is formed in automobiles by the combustion of gasoline and is then discharged into the air.

Sulfur dioxide is a gas created by the burning of fuels containing sulfur. Sulfuric acid is formed when sulfur dioxide is mixed with air and water. Sulfuric acid is the main ingredient in acid rain which can cause serious problems for animals living in water and ruin forests.

Infrastructure

The automobile has had a great impact on American culture. It can be said that the automobile has shaped where we live, the way we get from one place to another as well as how and where we work. communities are developed. Automobiles have even been considered in the way communities are developed. These new communities or suburbs meant that roads had to be built. Roads were needed to get around in the new suburban communities because more and more people were driving cars. More roads had to be constructed some automobile owners could get from community to community. The downside was that living without an automobile would make getting around more difficult if you didn’t own a car. The highway and interstate systems were created to accommodate the demand of automobile owners in the 1940s and ’50s.

Today it is estimated that over 4 million miles of roads and highways conver the United States. That is because millions of Americans rely on the automobile for transportation. These roadways have been great for allowing easier ways of getting from one point to another, but at what cost? Who or what was living on the land before the roads were constructed. the construction of roadways most likely has caused harm to various species of animals in the process. Population demographics of species would be altered and the area would become polluted.

One major way the construction of roads has caused a shift in the population demographic is in the mortality rate of animals. Many animals living near roadways cross them. It often doesn’t end well for the animals. We have all seen the remains of an animal that did not make it across the street. The leading cause of death from humans for several species living in the wild is caused by crossing the road. Hunting is second. Over 1 million animals die on the road a day in the United States1. When animals’ crossroads, mortality is often the result. Road mortality is the leading source of mortality to many wildlife populations and an estimated 1 million vertebrates die on roads every day in the United States.2 This rate of mortality can severely threaten animals and has been identified as a leading cause of the decline in some populations.

Roads can also be a channel for pollution to enter the environment. The spinning tires on cars kick debris from the roads and into the air. Once in the air, it’s free to land where it may. It ends up in the living areas of wildlife near the roads such as trees, ponds, or streams. Cars also come with many fluids and those fluids often leak while cars are in motion. Fluids such as oil, gasoline left on the road can potentially hurt wildlife that may come into contact with it.

Cars are also a form of noise and light pollution for winged wildlife. Some birds sing in the morning when they see the sunlight. Lights from car cars at night can send them into song before time. A bat’s flight route can be altered because of lights on the road at night. Noises from cars can interfere with animal mating calls or birds that communicate acoustically. Bird populations can decline due to the interference of a species warning or hazard signals.

Millions of Americans have the pleasure or inconvenience of owning and driving an automobile. Many also do so knowing how the environment is impacted. When we think back to when automobiles were being produced, was there anyone that could predict how much damage we would cause by using and improving upon these fascinating machines? Automobiles have changed the way we live and where we live. They have also changed the way of life for many animal species and ecosystems in our country. The automobile’s impact on our environment was greater than they could have predicted.

1. Forman, R.T. and L.E. Alexander, Roads and their major ecological effects. Annual review of ecology and systematics, 1998: p. 207-C2.
2. Rheindt, F.E., The impact of roads on birds: does song frequency play a role in determining susceptibility to noise pollution? Journal für Ornithologie, 2003. 144(3): p. 295-306.
3. Forman, R.T. and L.E. Alexander, Roads and their major ecological effects. Annual review of ecology and systematics, 1998: p. 207-C2.
4. Rheindt, F.E., The impact of roads on birds: does song frequency play a role in determining susceptibility to noise pollution? Journal für Ornithologie, 2003. 144(3): p. 295-306.

Bibliography

1. Mark S. Foster, From Streetcar to Superhighway: American City Planners and Urban Transportation, 1900-1940 (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1981). A well-respected historical treatment of the rise and decline of mass transit and the rise of automobiles as mass carriers. The author’s discussion of the development and planning of superhighways is particularly useful.
2. Jean Labatut and Wheaton J. Lane, eds., Highways in Our National Life: A Symposium (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1950).This published symposium from the 1940s gives excellent insight into thinking about the potential impact of highway development before the push for an interstate system in the mid-1950s.
3. Kunstler JH. The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America’s Man-Made Landscape. New York: Simon & Schuster; 1993. The book talks about why suburbia has ceased to be suitable human habitat. It also gives a view on why and how cities are formed and that may tie into the sprawls that come from people moving and they all bring their automobiles.
4. John B. Rae, American Automobile Manufacturers: The First Forty Years (Philadelphia: Chilton, 1959). A classic study of the history of the automobile in a broad cultural context. This book provides a good introduction to a wide variety of themes related to the physical impact of the automobile—especially in cities.
5. Peter Freund and George Martin, The Ecology of the Automobile (Montreal: Black Rose Books, 1993). A good study of the auto-centred transport system, discussing both the benefits and costs of automobile use. Most of the standard subjects are treated: suburbanization, core congestion, parking, accidents, and the transformation of public space.
6. Peter Freund and George Martin, The Ecology of the Automobile (Montreal: Black Rose Books, 1993). A good study of the auto-centred transport system, discussing both the benefits and costs of automobile use. Talks about suburbanization, core congestion, parking, accidents, and the transformation of public space.
7. Wells, Christopher W.. Car Country: An Environmental History, University of Washington Press, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/wsu/detail.action?docID=3444520.
8. Steinberg, Ted. Down to Earth : Nature’s Role in American History, Oxford University Press, 2000. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/wsu/detail.action?docID=241345. Created from wsu on 2020-04-08 16:52:00.
9. Messagie M, Boureima F-S, Coosemans T, Macharis C, Mierlo JV. A range-based vehicle life cycle assessment incorporating variability in the environmental assessment of different vehicle technologies and fuels. Energies 2014; 7: 1467-1482.
10. IEA. World Energy Outlook 2012, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, : Paris and Washington, DC.; 2012.
11. Ashnani MHM, Miremadi T, Johari A, Danekar A. Environmental Impact of Alternative Fuels and Vehicle Technologies: A Life Cycle Assessment Perspective. Procedia Environmental Sciences. 2015;30(C):205-210. doi:10.1016/j.proenv.2015.10.037
12. Derek Elsom, Smog Alert: Managing Urban Air Quality (London: Earthscan Publications, 1996).
13. Forman, R.T. and L.E. Alexander, Roads and their major ecological effects. Annual review of ecology and systematics, 1998: p. 207-231. https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/cars-trucks-buses-and-air-pollution
14. AIMS Environmental Science, 3(3): 362-381. DOI: 10.3934/environsci.2016.3.362 Received: 13 May 2016 Accepted: 16 June 2016 Published: 21 June 2016