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Impact of climate change on the auto industry
Environmental impacts of industrialization
Environmental impacts of industrialization
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Recommended: Impact of climate change on the auto industry
Environmental protection and preservation is a new pressure point that authorities and consumers are using to encourage manufacturers to adopt green production. In this case, as the operations manager of a large automobile company, the CEO has requested a meeting to discuss climate change and the implications for the enterprise. For the meeting to be fruitful, it is imperative that I prepare a briefing paper to address climate change and relate it to the company 's operations. Second, I need to furnish the CEO with possible alternatives in the fight against climate change. Therefore, the possible routes to green production, their ethical impacts, and the question of global warming and climate change from a manufacturing perspective are discussed.
Industrialization and Climate Change
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The Great Britain that was the pioneer has since been overtaken by the United States and China. Again, the technological revolution that has characterized the world over the last one century introduced a raft of changes as manufacturers sought cheaper ways of producing goods. Industrialization brought mixed fortunes to the world in that on one hand, and life has been made incredibly easy with a broad range of utilities. On the contrary, industrialization has been criticized for environmental degradation and changing climatic conditions. For half a century now, there have been calls from governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other institutions to introduce measures to curb the adverse effects of industrialization. In the first place, industrialization is the single most contributors to pollution. Such measures are aimed at containing negative impacts of climate change and the problems associated
The Industrial Revolution was not only a turning point in the progress of human history, but the start of a great change in the Earth’s environment. Technological advances in industry and mass migration into urban areas led to a rising demand for energy sources, a demand met by fossil fuels. Casper, J. (2010) describes coal as ‘symbolic of the beginning of the Industrial Revolution’, the increased combustion of these ‘dirty’ fossil fuels further polluted the air and enhanced the volume of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. Changes in land use attributed to population rise, reduced the amount of photosynthesising biomass on Earth, diminished an important ‘carbon sink’ and concluded to enhance the Greenhouse Effect.
This case focuses on corporate obstacles to pollution prevention. Pollution prevention can complex especially for large corporations. There are many different forms of pollution prevention including emissions control devices and incremental changes in existing technology. The author reviews the impact of emissions controlled devices, however the focus of the case study is on incremental changes in existing technology. Incremental changes include substituting one or two steps in a production process or relationship changes between production steps. One example of incremental changes that was provided by the author was eliminating chlorofluorocarbons and saving energy by replacing a refrigeration process with a heath exchanger that can exploit waste cooling from another part of the process. There are three critical decision-making stages for incremental changes; identifying a pollution prevention opportunity, finding a solution appropriate to that opportunity, and implementing that solution. The author discusses the three aspects of an organization (culture, ability to process information, and its politics) and how they impact the decision-making stages.
Although Maniates labels the “A” in IWAC as “meaningful consumption Alternatives,” his thoughts on the matter refer more to the institutional influences on product development. In Woodhouse’s words, “The public’s failure to embrace sustainable technologies has more to do with institutional structures that restrict the aggressive development and wide dissemination of sustainable technologies than with errant consumer choice” (48). Instead of attributing the lack of environmentally friendly products to happenstance, Maniates claims that there are production-side structural aspects which hinder the development of green products. Woodhouse mirrors Maniates in this aspect by recognizing the influences on engineers to overlook environmental concerns. “Neither law nor professional norms make [sustainable] design tasks a required aspect of most engineers’ responsibilities, and most employers place substantial obstacles in the way of engineers taking those design elements farther than law and market competition require” (27). By and large, companies are driven by the desire to maximize profit above all else, and from the perspective of employers, adding in environmental concerns is merely an additional constraint on potential profit margins. If engineering ethics and government regulations are sufficiently detailed on sustainability, then employers
The high standard of living that we enjoy here in the United States depends entirely on the availability of natural resources. These sources provide some with a luxury life and for other a means of just surviving. However with the attitude of the United States revolving around material items, this, unfortunately, has inevitably depleted our resources across the entire supply chain and generates a dangerous amount of environmental pollution. Also, the worldwide growing population and the need for more resource use is growing steadily. Although technology has helped us in many ways, it also has added significantly to these problems.
These burdens are amplified as the area is further urbanized; increasing demands for fossilized fuels, food, water, and property for additional urban construction. The impact of industrialization has transformed human life and produced extensive ecological deviations. In order to understand how the environmental impacts of ever expanding industrialized technology might linger to impact our health and that of our environment, we offer facts that should be studied. This paper suggests that extra research be conducted to enhance perception concerning advancing modern technology disadvantageous consequences on the safety of humans and their surrounding environment. Manufacturing of Energy Resources.
Global WarmingWhen the industrial Revolution began in the 1700’s and spread worldwide no one thoughtof the environmental threat it would cause. The use of factories and mass production has led to a permanent damage call Global Warming. Global Warming is an increase in temperature in the earth’s surface, oceans, and atmosphere generall attributed to the greenhouse effect caused b increased levels of carbon dio!ide and other pollutants. Global Warming has caused a climate change causing the planet to become hotter and increasing weather disasters and hurting our health, communities, and econom. There are solutions to reduce carbon pollution and increasingthe use of clean renewable energ but that would mean that manufactures would have
Every day when looking out a window, people see a beautiful earth. The earth is intriguing, but hinges on a delicate balance. Many natural resources keep the grass green and the sky blue. Man has made quite an impression on our world, and has transformed the earth's resources into tools to make life easy. However, mans' manipulation on earth has become detrimental to the health of our planet and the safety of mankind. Through the use and production of resources such as oil and energy, man is gradually poisoning the earth. Pollution has become such a dilemma in society; there is no real control or a feasible solution to society's recklessness. Without complete change, our system will collapse. The earth will eventually retaliate with disaster, or corporate control of our economy will cause hysteria and depression. Evaluation of the consequences and repercussion of worldwide pollution, may give people a better idea of what the future holds.
What is the socially optimum level of production keeping in mind the environment? How should it be achieved? It is at this point that the great economic minds of out time begin to take up arms. Michael Porter, a Professor of Business at the Harvard Business School claims that environmental regulation of businesses will actually give the businesses a competitive advantage over their counterparts in nations with less stringent regulation because it forces them to innovate. Porter claims that by changing their production processes, the businesses will actually lower their production costs (Porter, 97).
Humans have been destroying the planet since we were able to stand on two legs. As a society, we need to work to reverse these terrible effects that our existence has on the planet. Sustainability is one way to begin reversing these effects, while still living our daily lives. In 2006, Al Gore presented his documentary, “ An Inconvenient Truth”, as a way to show the world the evidence behind global warming, climate change and the destruction of our planet. This documentary shocked the world. It was clear that changes needed to be made, but the destruction was more intense than previously thought. SInce this revelation in 2006, companies have tried to cut down on their greenhouse emissions, as well as offered sustainable products to their customers. Through a debate of morals and
The world’s greatest powers have shown a lack of interest in the way that they are destroying the environment around them. The rise of the climate through the years has been altering how different organisms have had to survive. The world’s use of fossil fuels and CO2 emissions is at an all-time high. The countries with the highest CO2 emissions are same countries with the largest economies. The United States, China, India, Japan, and Russia are the top five leaders in CO2 emissions. All together they account for around 60% of the total carbon emissions worldwide. In order to cut down on the amount of CO2 emissions counties need start regulating their larger industries that create the highest amount of carbon emissions.
The seriousness of global warming effects both the environment and the people living in it. The question is how do Americans effect the environment and what can we do to fix it? Americans everyday use automobiles as a form of transportation, and although it may seem harmless, the use of these cars are proving to be detrimental in the end. Author Margaret Kriz (2006) states that, “the vast majority of scientists who study Earth's climate agree that the planet is warming, and they blame the greenhouse gases that accumulate in the a...
In recent years global warming has been on the rise. The importance of this issue is so that we as a nation can be aware of the drastic changes which are occurring rapidly around the world. Although there isn 't one set resolution to solve climate change, we must continue to carry out ways to put it to a halt. Some of the ways I believe we can cut this crisis is to stop polluting the manufacturing of toxic gases which is filling our environment with smog. If we all put our ideas and opinions in ways to prevent some causes of climate change, the world in which we live will be a better place. Instead of being a part of the problem we can be a part of the solution. Opposed to just humans, animals, and other species are affected as a result of
Because of this the government has been put into a major predicament. They have, and must continue to create laws, to protect the environment. However they cannot simply place unrealistic restrictions and limitations onto the major polluters; that are the manufacturing companies. These manufacturers emit large quantities of waste and greenhouse gases. However that is the cost of today’s society. The world needs certain commodities to function properly; like paper products, gasoline, oil and other petroleum by-products, as well as many other products that; whether we like it or not, are harmful to the environment, to make and use.
...dearly-held, unconscious collective assumptions may impede our chances for survival. Or, as Poliakoff, et. al., noted, “fundamental changes in technology are adopted… only when they provide real advantage” (810). Are human beings inherently selfish, or are they capable of rising above that? Will we use this power we have developed to help ourselves, or to attempt to help the world? “Why can’t we achieve a better balance between people, resources, and the environment? … The complete answers to these questions lie deeply within the complex realms of science, philosophy, religion, economics, and politics.” (170). The answers may be complicated. The truth is, industrialization has changed our relationship to the environment. It has enabled us to hurt it far more than any other species, but it has also given us the ability to help. The power of choice now lies with us.
After the industrial revolution, the world had become much faster than it used to be in the middle ages. It is important, though, to know that industry makes new innovations that humans could benefit from, but sometimes these innovations might have negative impacts on our planet. For instance, during the 1900s, humans invented motor vehicles that help people to transport from one place to the other faster than what it used to be in the past. This was very beneficial for humans to use as a new technology that makes our daily activates much easier than the past, but the fact is that global warming has had just begun to increase during the 1900s. Despite the few human activities that benefit Earth, there are many activities that harm the planet, such as industrialization, transportation, population, and agriculture. All of such that cause pollution which is the main factor that planet Earth suffers the most.