Change your car habits

by Abhimanyu Nath
(Missisauga, ON, Canada.)

The government should implement a deadline in exchanging our cars for fuel-cell powered cars for a very small cost.

And this drastic step should be taken ASAP, due to the melting polar caps.

Why not take drastic steps in reducing vehicle exhausts??

The situation is way more serious than it looks like. If the cars from all around the world disappeared tomorrow, even then, the ice caps will keep melting for at least two more consequent years.

If we didn't stop our emissions, by two years the weather patterns would have changed immensely, and you never know when Canada becomes a hot desert and the Middle East becomes cold.

Besides, we are hardly concerned about the wide variety of flora and fauna. No regular citizen is aware about how many species have died over the years, ever since the industrial age had begun. Dramatic change in climatic conditions can throw us in the next page of the history of dinosaurs.

Hence we must act right now.

And "now" means at this point of time, this very second, lest, it'll be too late for us and there will soon be a no-point-of-return. No one wants to reach that stage in their life, do they?

After all everyone's concerned about the future of their offspring. How would it be like, losing your son and daughter to extreme UV radiation exposure or inhalation of ozone from smog?

We must act this second

...because it will take eons for the nature to repair itself and take down the carbon dioxide levels to normal, once we stop our emissions. Our smoke-emitting cars can be dismantled, recycled and made into something else.

Barry's Response Some food for thought here. Changing our transportation habits is a major way to improve our environmental footprint. Thanks, Abhimanyu.

Common Sense, Cars, and Climate

Let's pump the brakes for a sec. It's a good discussion, but we need to drive on facts, not fear.

Maybe it's time to explore fuel-cell cars. Climate change is a big deal to many, so cutting emissions makes sense. However, changing to hydrogen or electric vehicles (EVs) overnight isn't easy. Rare earth metals (lithium, cobalt, nickel) are needed for EVs and hydrogen fuel-cell cars.

Hydrogen fuel stations? Networks for charging? Building these takes years, and some places don't even have reliable electricity.

Swaps mandated by the government sound good, but who pays for them? What about car companies? Keep in mind, consumer demand drives markets, not mandates.

Market Friendly

Instead of blanket bans, how about incentives and innovation? If carmakers compete for better solutions, we might get cleaner futures without wrecking the economy.

Without cars, the ice caps could still melt. The alarmists are wrong, but maybe not for the reasons they claim:
- Glaciers melt because of natural climate variations. Glaciers have shrunk since the Little Ice Age (1300-1850) and CO2 isn't the only thing causing climate change. The sun, ocean cycles (i.e., oscillations), and volcanic activity are also factors.
- Oceans store heat and release it gradually over two years because of thermal inertia. We'll still change the climate even if we reach net-zero.

While it's great to reduce pollution, we can't stop the climate from changing, just like we can't stop the tides.

Regarding: in two years, Canada might be a desert, Please don't drive off a cliff...
- Modellers assume no adaptation, no new technology, and maximal CO2 sensitivity when predicting extreme, sudden shifts (like Canada becoming the Sahara).
- Middle East cold? That's unlikely. Climate change isn't caused only by greenhouse gases, it's caused by geography and other factors.

Humans have always adapted to extreme weather and environmental conditions. For instance, they're fine in places like the Netherlands, even though they're below sea level.

Are Tipping Points irreversible? The "point of no return" gets a lot of talk:
- In the 1970s, an ice age was predicted.
- In the 1980s, acid rain wiped out forests.
- Arctic ice is supposed to disappear by 2013.

What's the reason? Nature, adaptation, and innovation.

Let Us Know what you Think Below

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It doesn't mean we shouldn't care, but we should think critically before we panic. We need to cut pollution where we can, adapt where we have to, and use innovation, not hysteria. While we figure this out, let's drive slower.
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