Today, air pollution, global warming, overpopulation, and other issues start revealing the catastrophic consequences of the vast progress humanity reached within the last few centuries. This essay draws attention to the invention that roughly harms the environment – fossil fuel. National Geographic counted that nearly 90% of air pollution and global warming issues are caused by fuel consumption. It was horrifying to discover this fact and understand that each person is involved in this crime against nature. People use gas mainly in cars and other vehicles, and they can vastly help the environment by reducing the usage, or finding alternatives. This essay aims to persuade that humanity should decrease fuel consumption as effectively as possible.
As mentioned above, the main problem caused by the utilization of fossil fuels is air pollution, and it needs to be decreased as the air people breathe is vital for their health. Lelieveld et al. state that “air pollution makes a major contribution to excess mortality from cardiovascular, respiratory, and other diseases” (p. 7193). The health problems we might face due to air pollution would also affect all of the future generations. If there were half fewer cars, air pollution would progress slower, and humanity would win more time to solve the environmental issue.
Aside from the environmental and health issues fuel consumption causes, it affects the economy. The government is forced to fund vast amounts of money to deal with the consequences of fuel consumption, production, and utilization. However, the taxes of citizens could be involved in the development of ecology-friendly alternatives. Financial support is vital for commercializing and implementing technologies to make the planet clearer (Bandyopadhyay, 2017). The money involved in the projects that help humanity to prevent environmental catastrophes can speed up the process of termination for the utilization of fossil fuel-consuming vehicles. Besides, fuel as a resource can run out soon, so the need for alternatives might appear even before vast ecological consequences.
Luckily, modern technology and innovation progress also participate in solving environmental issues. Nowadays, electric cars became the main alternative that does not cause air pollution. Unlike fuel-consuming vehicles, electric cars do not harm the environment, even during the building process. Companies like Tesla Motors are producing electric cars by using alternative materials and challenging other manufacturers to build similar automobiles. Tong et al. (2020) claim that “the increasing performance of energy-efficient vehicles would set the bar with which advanced and emerging vehicle technologies compete” (p. 12). Moreover, electric cars tend to be more powerful and affordable as electricity is much cheaper than fuel.
Air pollution and global warming are issues that grow bigger every year, and the next few generations might face a catastrophe if the contamination continues to evolve so fast. Today’s generation keeps using fuel and produces even more of it for different needs. It is important to remember that Earth’s resources are not endless, and it is better to start searching for alternatives. For example, electric cars or solar energy batteries are being invented at the moment. The development of environment-protecting technologies proves that everyone can measure their own impact on environmental issues, and take steps to reduce them. Driving your car back home today, think of lungs inhaling the polluted air. Will you be grateful to yourself later for stopping to utilize gas fuel now?
References
Bandyopadhyay, S. (2017). Evaluating sustainable economic development. Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, 19, 1815–1816.
Lelieveld, J., Klingmüller, K., Pozzer, A., Burnett, R. T., Haines, A., & Ramanathan, V. (2019). Effects of fossil fuel and total anthropogenic emission removal on public health and climate. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(15), 7192-7197.
The environmental impacts of cars are explained. (2019). National Geographic.
Tong, F., & Azevedo, I. M. (2020). What are the best combinations of fuel-vehicle technologies to mitigate climate change and air pollution effects across the United States? Environmental Research Letters, 15(7). Web.