Are cars the main cause of air pollution?
Even nowadays when they have put pollution controls on them.
Is the air cleaner is Amish country?
Does taking mass transit really save on air pollution?
*Are cars the main cause of air pollution?
Define “main cause”. Differant pollution sources put different pollutants in the air.
*Even nowadays when they have put pollution controls on them.
So? All that means is that each one puts out less…not zero. My WAG is that the number of cars has gone up, though. So maybe it balances out, maybe t goes one way or the other. I haven’t slept in way too long, so you can find your own cites on that.
*Is the air cleaner is Amish country?
Probably, though wind could change that. I personally can tell the difference just driving out of San Fran a little ways.
*Does taking mass transit really save on air pollution?
Well, if only one person takes it, no. If enough people take it that it more than counteracts what they would produce otherwise, yes. This surely varies widely from area to area, and even different routes and different times of day.
Should we include carbon dioxide as a kind of air pollution?
CO2 isn’t a component of “smog,” but it is what has so many people in a tizzy about “global warming.”
A note about “Amish Country”. That simply refers to areas where there’s a large enough Amish community to notice. There are several of these in the US, and they aren’t sealed-off enclaves where no cars are allowed. I grew up in an area in Pennsylvania which would certainly be called “Amish country”, and the Amish and “English” farms were all mixed together, not to mention that there would be ordinary suburban developments built in among a bunch of Amish farms. I wouldn’t say the air there was any cleaner than any other area in the US with similar population density. Actually in the summer it could get worse, thanks to the bumper-to-bumper traffic caused by the annual migration of gawkers - pardon me, tourists.
They’re the main cause of all the smog you see above a big city on a calm, hazy day. They’re probably a very significant factor in global warming. I doubt that they do anything to the ozone layer (smog is heavier than air, and doesn’t get up that high… there’s more crap from shuttle launches up that high than car emissions). I doubt that they do anything to the oceans or rivers, aside side effects (that is, smog causes greenhouse effect, ocean gets hotter, etc.).
Well, the smog problem has gotten much better. Thirty years ago, they’d have several dozen “smog alerts” a year. Nowadays, it’s down to a couple, even though the requirements for a “smog alert” have dropped. So, while they may still be a problem, they’re not nearly as horrible as they once were.
Hell no. All those cows farting? Lots of methane in the atmosphere (sorry, couldn’t resist the joke…)
Most likely. One bus may put out enough air crap for five cars, but they carry more than five cars’ worth of passengers (in general). Trains, subways… same boat.
Actually, they’re not the “main cause” of smog, if by “main cause” you mean they cause more than 50% of the emissions (which is how I would take it). They are certainly one of the main causes, but there are many others.
The Amish tend to burn their garbage (at least my neighbor Amish.) They also dispose of dead farm animals by thowing them in a culvert (again, my neighbor Amish.)
And then there is the occasional tractor pull (nothing to do with the Amish,) Nyahh, the air ain’t any cleaner out here then in NJ.