Cars
From Envirowiki
ahh, the automobile! every environmentalist's most hated invention. Brought to you in omnicolour buy Mr Henry Ford.
most cars on the roads of the world today are fueled by some form of climate changing fossil fuel - usually Petrol, Diesel, or Liquid Petroleum Gas.
road traffic creates a huge percentage of the world's carbon emissions[reference needed]
[edit] 1 impacts
Cars, no matter how they are fueled:
- Kill 2000 Australians a year[reference needed]
- Are noisy and dangerous. Noise may warn of the danger approaching. But habits like these mean people don’t look for bicycles or quiet electric scooters when crossing road or getting out of cars.
- Cause traffic congestion & Urban sprawl
- Cause social isolation & road rage
- Generate tons of toxic waste in their mining construction, disposal, and infrustructure.
- Use up 40%[reference needed] of cities land area and degrade our urban environment
[edit] 2 The degradation of the City
Cars create a bubble of insularity when they are used - you can see out, and some people can see in, but no other senses connect you to the rest of the city. Other options, such as public transport, or walking, allow people to relax, and take in their surroundings, and interact with the people around them. A number of books have been written on this topic[1][2].
Cars also diverge from the human scale, by going too fast. The speed of the car is such that the journey is difficult to take in - anything close by is moving too fast to perceive properly, only long-distance, low detail views are able to be taken in. Also, considering that they are enclosed environments, it is possible to travel at extremely dangerous speeds without being aware of stopping distance, or the risk of something crossing in front of the car (ie. other cars, or animals)
