Congress enacted the National Air Pollution Control Act in 1955 to generate research on air pollution, but how automobile emissions fit into the story took several years to evaluate and even longer to address.
Emissions from the internal combustion engine have proved to be the most significant environmental consequence of oil production. The technical limits of the internal combustion engine and the scale of automobile use produced devastating forms of pollution.
The addition of many thousands of cars on the road in the years after World War II intensified the spread of air pollution, added more and newer sources of pollutants, and most immediately threatened many major cities.
Smog, which is the result of primarily automobile emissions, is composed of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, waste heat, and aerosols. Tropospheric ozone, is another ingredient.
The various components of smog pose health risks to people. Auto emissions cause headaches, lung cancer, emphysema, respiratory and cardiovascular problems, and low birth weight infants. They also alter weather patterns, and harm crops and vegetation.
In 1923 tetraethyl lead was
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Los Angeles, the "smog capital of America," was probably the first city to raise major public concern over auto emissions, and became the living laboratory for studying the causes and effects of massive doses of smog. The State of California also was the first state to establish new-car emission standards. This was only a start, since no effort was made to control exhaust emissions that were responsible for 55 percent of the hydrocarbons, most of the waste heat, and all of the carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and lead emissions. Once again the industry balked, but in 1966 California required exhaust-control devices on all new
Driving emits particle pollution, which increases the risk of heart disease, lung cancer and asthma. Particle pollution is processed in two ways, either mechanical or chemical.
The Clean Air Act of 1970 APU: BUSI 522 Michelle Manning September 22, 2015 The Clean Air Act of 1970 Introduction The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates air pollution through various policies passed through the Supreme Court. The scope of this paper is to investigate the Clean Air Act of 1970, and to analyze the impact it has on businesses and society. It provides a rationale for the policy, and contains a brief overview of governmental involvement in regulating air pollution.
The Clean Air Act (CAA) of 1970, which established nationwide standards for air quality, is one such “unfounded mandate.” Although it is a federal law, states must pay the cost of implementation and enforcement.
Ever since the Environmental Protection Agency otherwise known as the EPA, and the Clean Air Act were enacted into law in 1970 the American Auto Industry has been inundated with many environmental challenges such as brake debris/tire particles, paint and coating, auto shredding residue, battery content, smog, and gasoline. For the first time in 14 years, cost reduction ranked 32% compared to environmental issues such as emissions and fuel economy which ranked 53% in consumer reports.
The quality of air we intake on a daily basis is essential to our health, therefore, the EPA’s Clean Air Act provides the groundwork to support the quality of the air which we breathe. One of the goals of the Act was to set and achieve NAAQS in every state by 1975 to address the public health and welfare risks posed by certain air pollutants. The setting of these pollutant standards was coupled with directing the states to develop state implementation plans (SIPs), applicable to appropriate industrial sources in the stat...
Automobiles play a major role in today's society. Almost every American owns at least one motorized transportation vehicle. Some say they make our lives better by reaching places faster than before. Others say they are a harmful to the environment. Have they made our society better or worse? They may be fast, but do we as humans want our environment to suffer because of time. Face it, cars pollute. And they release destructive chemicals into the air. Air pollution can threaten the health of many subjects in the environment including human beings.
Prior to the industrial revolution the levels of toxic chemicals in the air were low. After WWII and the rise in the popularization of cars air pollution spread to many major cities. In the 1940s citizens of LA began complaining about yellow-brown smog, composed of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides. Because LA was one of the first cities to experience the impacts of air pollution they were also the first city to raise public concern of car emissions. In 1947 coal and fuel oil was banned from industrial purposes, however smog continued to rise. By investigating the cause of smog even further scientists in LA discovered the main sources of smog were engine exhaust, engine ventilation, the carburetor and the fuel tank. These investigations directly led to the creation of technologies that controlled emissions. Over the next few decades laws were written with the aim of limiting emissions. In 1990 the Clean Air Amendments set strict standards for emissions. This new policy led to more interest in alternatives to the internal combustion engine such as electric powered vehicles or even
Gasoline fueled cars produce a number of pollutants. The most damaging pollutants that come from gasoline fueled cars are particulate matter. Particulate matter is a sequence of organic materials and inorganic substances. It includes ingredients such as lint and minerals. Nitrogen dioxide, produced when fuel is burned at high temperatures, can cause damage to the lungs and cause chest pains. One might ask, “Why are Americans still driving gasoline cars?” knowing the damage that they are subject to cause. I personally maintain that the government should push people to p...
One of the most dangerous environment issues Southern California is facing today is air pollution. This includes the burning of fossil fuels and natural disasters. Los Angeles is one of the most polluted cities in the world, and the most polluted city in the United States. I will research information about the causes, the effects, and the history of air pollution in the Los Angeles. For my research, I have relied mostly on, the school’s database and library, as well as current events.
Relevance: Air pollution is something that everyone should be concern, especially if we’re advancing a lot in technology, especially in vehicles and the importance of our air or the environment.
Many hazardous pollutants escape from the internal combustion of the engine. Conventional gas powered vehicles use irreplaceable fossil fuels to run. When burned, these fossil fuels create numerous toxins like carbon dioxide (Larminie 246). Carbon dioxide is considered the main greenhouse gas that creates the foundation for global warming (hybridcars.com, pollutants). This harmful pollutant may not have a serious effect on people at first, but it does have consequential effects on the environment that in turn put people in danger (Nutramed.com). The major consequence caused by global warming is the rise in average temperature. This results in a domino...
Air pollution is caused by many things such as car fumes, burning of fossil fuels,
Warmer global temperatures affect farming, wildlife, sea levels and natural landscapes. The effects of car pollution are widespread, affecting air, soil and water quality. Nitrous oxide contributes to the depletion of the ozone layer, which shields the Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide mix with rainwater to create acid rain, which damages crops, forests and other vegetation and buildings. Oil and fuel spills from cars and trucks seep into the soil near highways, and discarded fuel and particulates from vehicle emissions contaminate lakes, rivers and wetlands. Air pollution from cars and trucks is split into primary and secondary pollution. Primary pollution is emitted directly into the atmosphere; secondary pollution results from chemical reactions between pollutants in the atmosphere. The following are the major pollutants from motor vehicles: Particulate matter (PM), Hydrocarbons (HC), Nitrogen oxides (Nix), Carbon monoxide (CO), Sulfur dioxide (SO2), Hazardous air pollutants (toxics), Greenhouse
they create many breathing and heart conditions like cancer and other threats in the body, that is why children who are exposed through air pollutants are most likely to have pneumonia and asthma.
The fast population growth rate of humans means that the necessity for transportation vehicles is also enormously increasing. Studies have shown that in 1999 the worldwide number of vehicles registered was 700 million. From this huge number of vehicles, the US has a large share, which includes 200 million cars and light trucks. The number of cars worldwide also grew three times faster Competition for good things like public health, making the earth safe to live are positive aspects of competition, but global competition can also have a downside concerning the environment. This is true for the production of vehicles, as companies are coming with designs and new models with improved engines, but fuel consumption and the pollution of the air remains the same.