Cars-A threat to our Environment

It is now universally accepted that present life without a car is almost impossible. At the same time we cannot deny, that our cars are one of the main cause of air pollution. Cars emit a variety of green house gases including methane, carbon mono oxide, ozone, nitrous oxide and most importantly carbon dioxide. These gases when released into the atmosphere trap the heat from the sun and prevent it from escaping into space. This increase the green house effect and cause the average temperature of earth to rise, which eventually results in global warming. Motor vehicles currently emit over 900million metric ton of CO2 each year. Scientists believe that greater amount of CO2 in the atmosphere and hotter temperature on earth will significantly change the climate across the whole planet. Methane is another green house gas that results in global warming to a large extent. Methane can be easily obtained from cars, Environmentalists rice paddies, bacteria in bogs and fossil fuel manufacture and hence easily available in abundance. Moreover, it is 20 have a very times as effective as Carbon dioxide at entrapping heat in conflicted the atmosphere and is a leading cause of global warming. While driving we allow the release of several harmful gases in the air but this does not mean that we can give up driving cars in order to save our environment, practical solution have to be devised and implemented in order to reduce air pollution caused by emission of vehicles. As an example of practical solution many alternative fuels are being used. These alternative fuels include ethanol, natural gas, hydrogen, propane, bio-diesel, methanol, p-series fuels etc. Electricity is also being used in battery powered vehicles. All of the above mentioned alternative fuels reduce emissions. However each fuel has its own characteristics. Ethanol is the most environment friendly alternative fuel. It reduces green house gases emissions by as much as 59% relative to gasoline and keeps harmful chemicals like MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether) and benzene out of air. Exhaust emissions from natural gas vehicles are generally much lower than those from gasoline powered vehicles produce little or no evaporative emissions during fuelling and being consumed. Simply improving the efficiency of gas-burning internal combustion engines could help cut greenhouse gas emissions from a growing global car fleet. Driving as little as possible is the best way to reduce the harmful environmental impact of transportation needs. Carpooling, biking, and walking are ways to reduce the emissions coming out of our fancy cars. Kanza Abid Edited by: Nimrah Zarar

relationship with their cars Tom Arnold