The internal combustion of fossil fuels via anthropogenic transportation has cultivated a vast array of poisonous air pollutants that have begun to devastate the health and wellbeing of humanity through environmental crisis and human health damage. Apart from the biological perspectives regarding our continued dependence on fossil fuels for transportation, the ethical verdict remains unfettered; humanity will drown in its own creation of filth under the immense pressures of climate change and air pollution undone in part by mass transportation.
Humanity has become intoxicated with the automobile and the individual freedoms that come with it. In doing such, we have cultivated an addiction to fossil fuel to sustain our need for transportation (Kopnina, H. 2017). Accommodating this pandemic of an addiction does not come without consequence. Just as an addict is infested with decay under years of usage; The veins of our Earth run rich with deadly pollutants and emissions. We have already begun to see the devastating human health effects of internal combustion emissions through increased rates of respiratory mortality and asthma (Tessum et al. 2014 & Kolaric, D. 2011). Yet, without immediate global action, we may have already chiseled a date on our own tombstone as poisonous emissions exhale out our cancerous lungs and inhale into the atmosphere.
References
KOLARIČ, D. (2011). The Viewpoints of Chemical Air Pollution Caused by Traffic Subsystems and Presented by the Example of Emission Measurements of Trucks’ Exhaust Gases. Transport Problems: An International Scientific Journal, 6(1), 49–62. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=65166404&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Kopnina, H. (2017). Vehicular air pollution and asthma: implications for education for health and environmental sustainability. Local Environment, 22(1), 38–48. https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2016.1154519
Tessum, C. W., Hill, J. D., & Marshall, J. D. (2014). Life cycle air quality impacts of conventional and alternative light-duty transportation in the United States. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111(52), 18490–18495. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1406853111
Hi Austin. I think you choice a really good topic for your post. There is a lot to talk about with anthropogenic emissions. Your use of the word "addiction" is great here as the human race has become so reliant on fossil fuels. Although fossil fuels were, at one time, a great advancement in human history that contributed to the prosperity of humans, it is now time to change our behaviors in order to continue life on this planet. There is research showing that natural and artificial resources other than fossil fuels can meet the worlds demands (Abas et al., 2015). So why is it so hard to switch? Is it human addiction to fossil fuels, and the ease of fossil fuels? Is it just a bad habit that we have yet to break?
ReplyDeleteThinking on the ethical side of the topic, continuing to rely on fossil fuels and creating emissions is violating Justice for future generations.
Abas, N., Kalair, A., & Khan, N. (2015). Review of fossil fuels and future energy technologies. Futures, 69, 31-49. doi:10.1016/j.futures.2015.03.003