THE ENVIRONMENTAL COST OF TOMATOES IN YOUR FOOD

The Environmental Cost of the Tomato


It takes less energy to import tomatoes from Spain than to grow them in Britain, says a report which claims that "food miles" are not always a bad thing. Food has been traveling longer distances between the farmer and the consumer for the past 50 years, according to the independent report commissioned by the Government.

The increase is a result of the globalization of the food industry, the trend towards bigger farms at home, the centralization of supermarkets' distribution networks and out-of-town shopping by car.

The study on food miles carried out for the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs by AEA Technology says food transport is a significant and growing source of road accident, noise and pollution . According to the report the environmental and social costs of food transport are £9 billion a year. More than half of this (£5 billion) is due to road congestion and £2 billion is due to accidents - more than 300 people are killed transporting food every year.

Yet food miles are not always a valid test of environmental friendliness, says the report. They are "too simple a concept" to capture the impact of its transportation. For example, the report says, it takes less energy to import tomatoes from Spain, where the climate is warmer and no heating is used, than to grow them out of season in gas-heated greenhouses in Britain.

Gas heated greenhouse

The environmental cost of importing organic wheat is lower than producing wheat by conventional methods at home - provided that not too much fuel is used moving it around when it gets here.

The report shows that the mode of transport makes a great difference. Large tonnages of food can be imported from far away by sea at low environmental cost. Air transport, however, produces high amounts of pollution for the low tonnages of goods it brings. Food air transport has more than doubled since 1992, and represents 11 per cent of all carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere.

Transporting tomatoes

 Yet the highest mileage traveled by food is in the car. Consumers now drive an average of nearly 900 miles a year to shop for food.

The bulk of all emissions comes from heavy goods vehicles. Carbon dioxide emissions from food transport increased by 12 per cent from 1992 to 2002. By contrast, local air pollution from nitrogen oxides and particulates declined over this period.

Lord Bach, the food and farming minister, said: "It is clear that organic and seasonally-available food can reduce environmental impacts but that these can be offset by the way they are transported to the consumers." He added: "We don't want to act as a nanny state, but every citizen does have to know the impact of what they are doing."



Vicky Hird, of Friends of the Earth, said: "Asking the food companies to make lorries a bit more efficient is irrelevant when those lorries are making unnecessary journeys.

"To suggest that locally-sourced food may generate more food miles is ludicrous. Locally produced food is far better for food miles, but it must be planned and supported by local and national government to find the most efficient methods."

THE UNSEEN COST OF FOSSIL FUELS

                                                The UNSEEN Cost of Fossil Fuels
Fossil fuels—coal, oil, and natural gas—are the world primary source of energy. Some of the costs of using these fuels are obvious, such as the cost of labor to mine for coal or drill for oil, of labor and materials to build energy-generating plants, and of transportation of coal and oil to the plants. These costs are included in our electricity bills or in the purchase price of fuel for cars.But some energy costs are not included in consumer utility or gas bills, nor are they paid for by the companies that produce or sell the energy. These include human health problems caused by air pollution from the burning of coal and oil; damage to land from coal mining and to miners from black lung disease; environmental degradation caused by global warming, acid rain, and water pollution; and national security costs, such as protecting foreign sources of oil.

Since such costs are not direct and difficult to determine, they have conservatively remained outcast to the energy pricing system, and are thus often referred to as externalities. And since the producers and the users of energy do not pay for these costs, society as a whole must pay for them. But this pricing system masks the true costs of fossil fuels and results in damage to human health, the environment, and the economy.

Environmental Impacts of Fossil Fuel Use

Most of the environmental problems our country faces today result from our fossil fuel dependence. These impacts include global warming, air quality deterioration, oil spills, and acid rain.

Global Warming



 Among the gases emitted when fossil fuels are burned, one of the most significant is carbon dioxide, a gas that traps heat in the earth's atmosphere. Over the last 150 years, burning fossil fuels has resulted in more than a 25 percent increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. Fossil fuels are also implicated in increased levels of atmospheric methane and nitrous oxide, although they are not the major source of these gases.Since the era of rekiable records in the late 1800s, the global average surface temperature has risen 0.5-1.1 degrees Fahrenheit (0.3-0.6 degrees Celsius).

Scientists with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded in a 1995 report that the observed increase in global average temperature over the last century "is unlikely to be entirely natural in origin" and that "the balance of evidence suggests that there is a discernible human influence on global climate."

Climate scientists predict that if carbondioxide levels continue to elevate, the planet will become warmer in the next century. Projected temperature increases will most likely result in a variety of impacts. In coastal areas, sea-level rise due to the warming of the oceans and the melting of glaciers may lead to the inundation of wetlands, river deltas, and even populated areas. Altered weather patterns may result in more extreme weather events. And inland agricultural zones could suffer an increase in the frequency of droughts.

Air Pollution


Clean air is mandatory to life and good health. Many important pollutants are produced by fossil fuel combustion: carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and hydrocarbons. In addition, total suspended particulates contribute to air pollution, and nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons can combine in the atmosphere to form tropospheric ozone, the major constituent of smog.

Carbon monoxide is a gas produced as a by-product during the incomplete combustion of all fossil fuels. Exposure to carbon monoxide can cause headaches and place additional stress on people with heart disease. Cars and trucks are the primary source of carbon monoxide emissions.

Two oxides of nitrogen, nitrogen dioxide and nitric oxide are formed in combustion. Nitrogen oxides appear as yellowish-brown clouds over many city skylines. They can irritate the lungs, cause bronchitis and pneumonia, and decrease resistance to respiratory infections. They also lead to the formation of smog. The transportation sector is responsible for close to half of the US emissions of nitrogen oxides; power plants produce most of the rest.

Sulfur oxides are produced by the oxidization of the available sulfur in a fuel. Utilities that use coal to generate electricity produce two-thirds of the nation's sulfur dioxide emissions. Nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides are major constituents of acid rain. These gases combine with water vapor in clouds to form sulfuric and nitric acids, which become part of rain and snow. As the acids accumulate, lakes and rivers become too acidic for plant and animal life. Acid rain also affects crops and buildings.

Hydrocarbons are a broad class of pollutants made up of hundreds of specific compounds containing carbon and hydrogen. The simplest hydrocarbon, methane, does not readily react with nitrogen oxides to form smog, but most other hydrocarbons do. Hydrocarbons are emitted from human-made sources such as auto and truck exhaust, evaporation of gasoline and solvents, and petroleum refining.The white haze that can be seen over many cities is tropospheric ozone, or smog. This gas is not released directly into the air; rather, it is formed when ozone precursors mainly non methane hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides react in the presence of heat and sunlight. Human exposure to ozone can produce shortness of breath and, over time, permanent lung damage. Research shows that ozone may be harmful at levels even lower than the current federal air standard. In  addition, it can reduce crop yields.

Finally, fossil fuel use also produces particulates, including dust, soot, smoke, and other suspended matter, which are respiratory irritants. In addition, particulates may contribute to acid rain formation.

Water and Land Pollution


Production, transportation, and use of oil cause water pollution. Oil spills, for example, leave waterways and their surrounding shores uninhabitable for some time. Such spills often result in the loss of plant and animal life. Coal mining also contributes to water pollution. Coal contains pyrite, a sulfur compound; as water washes through mines, this compound forms a dilute acid, which is then washed into nearby rivers and streams.

Coal mining, especially strip mining, affects the area that is being mined. Characteristically, the material closest to the coal is acidic. After the mining is completed, the land will remain barren unless special precautions are taken to ensure that proper topsoil is used when the area is replanted. Materials other than coal are also brought to the surface in the coal mining process, and these are left as solid wastes. As the coal itself is washed, more waste material is left. Finally, as the coal is burned, the remaining ash is left as a waste product.

Thermal Pollution


During the electricity-generation process, burning fossil fuels produce heat energy, some of which is used to generate electricity. Because the process is inefficient, much of the heat is released to the atmosphere or to water that is used as a coolant. Heated air is not a problem, but heated water, once returned to rivers or lakes, can upset the aquatic ecosystem.




National Security Impacts of Fossil Fuel Use

Our nation's fossil fuel dependence means that, to ensure our supply, we may be forced to protect foreign sources of oil. The Persian Gulf War is a perfect example: US troops were sent to the Gulf in part to guard against a possible cutoff of our oil supply. Although the war is over, through taxes we continue topay for protecting oil supplies with our armed forces. Not only were billions of dollars spent in protecting the oil, but lives were lost as well.

Reliance on Middle East oil also creates a danger of fuel price shocks or shortages if supply is disrupted. Today, about one-third of US oil comes from the
Middle East. By 2030, if energy policy is not changed it might increase to two-third.

Soil Erosion

Soil erosion becomes a problem when human activity causes it to occur much faster than under natural circumstances.
Annual soil loss in South Africa is estimated at 300 - 400 million tonnes, nearly three tonnes for each hectare of land. For every tonne of maize, wheat, sugar or other agricultural crop produced, South Africa loses an average of 20 tonnes of soil.
The FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation, a branch of United Nations) estimates that the global loss of productive land through erosion is 5-7 million ha/year.
Wind and water are the main agents of soil erosion. The amount of soil they can carry away is influenced by two related factors:
(1) Speed - the faster either moves, the more soil it can erode;
(2) plant cover - plants protect the soil and in their absence wind and water can do much more damage.
Plants provide protective cover on the land and prevent soil erosion for the following reasons:
* plants slow down water as it flows over the land(runoff) and this allows much of the rain to soak into the ground;
* plant roots hold the soil in position and prevent it from being washed away;
* plants break the impact of a raindrop before it hits the soil, thus reducing its ability to erode;
* plants in wetlands and on the banks of rivers are of particular importance as they slow down the flow of the water and their roots bind the soil, thus preventing erosion.
The loss of protective vegetation through deforestation, over-grazing, ploughing, and fire makes soil vulnerable to being swept away by wind and water.
In addition, over-cultivation and compaction cause the soil to lose its structure and cohesion and it becomes more easily eroded.
Erosion will remove the top-soil first, once this nutrient-rich layer of soil is gone, few plants will grow in the soil again. Without soil and plants the land becomes desert-like and unable to support life - this process is called desertification. It is very difficult and often impossible to restore desertified land.
To understand soil erosion we must be aware of the political and economic factors affecting land users. In South Africa apartheid policies ensured that 42% of the people lived on 13 % of the land (the"homelands"). This overcrowding has resulted in severe erosion. As the land became increasingly degraded and thus less productive, subsistence farmers were forced to further overuse the land.
The intensive agriculture and overgrazing that followed caused greater degradation. Soil erosion can be seen as both a symptom of underdevelopment (i.e. poverty, inequality and exploitation), and as a cause of underdevelopment.
A reduced ability to produce, invest one's profit and increase productivity, contributes to increasing poverty, and can lead to desertification, drought, floods, and famine.
On commercial farm lands, overstocking, mono-cropping, and the ploughing of marginal lands unsuitable for cultivation has led to soil erosion and desertification. Frequently these practices have been unwittingly encouraged by the state offering subsidies which made it profitable to exploit the land in the short-term.

PREVENTING SOIL EROSION

Preventing soil erosion requires political, economic and technical changes. Political and economic changes need to address the distribution of land as well as the possibility of incentives to encourage farmers to manage their land sustainably.
Aspects of technical changes include:* the use of contour ploughing and wind breaks;
* leaving unploughed grass strips between ploughed land;
* making sure that there are always plants growing on the soil, and that the soil is rich in humus (decaying plant and animal remains). This organic matter is the "glue" that binds the soil particles together and plays an important part in preventing erosion;
* avoiding overgrazing and the over-use of crop lands;
* allowing indigenous plants to grow along the river banks instead of ploughing and planting crops right up to the water's edge;
* encouraging biological diversity by planting several different types of plants together;
* conservation of wetland
In addition to the guidelines above, try the following:
* Pathways can be easily eroded when water flows over them. Prevent this by breaking the water flow with logs, stone packs or old tyres.
* Become a `Erosion Doctor' and repair erosion gullies.

SHRINKING GROUNDWATER

Groundwater is the water found underground in the cracks and spaces in soil, sand and rock. It is stored in and moves slowly through geologic formations of soil, sand and rocks called aquifers.
How do we cope with the changing ground water is a question that need to be asked.
Although our domestic water requirement varies from 50 – 200 litre per capita per day depending on our life style, the quantity of water actually used for drinking is just about 4 litres per capita per day.
This water, however, has to be of best quality. For those who can afford, our drinking water in future would come essentially from specially treated bottled water or through high technology household level water treatment units.
The proposal for having water supply in duel qualities; one for domestic use and the other with recycled water for non-domestic use are to be taken seriously.                          
Roof Top Rain Water Harvesting (RTRH) has also been found to be a viable alternative source of fresh water. Therefore, in time to come, rainwater harvested from roof top particularly in high rainfall (1000 mm) areas is likely to become a convenient and economic source of fresh water supply.
Excess rain water harvested from roof top, if any, could also be used for artificial groundwater recharge. For this reason it should be made compulsory for all future housing projects to make provisions for collection and diversion of rain water from the roof top to a common location for further use.
Roof tops are also likely to be used for solar panels in the future. There would be no conflict if the solar panels are installed on stilts on the roof top. Procuring large scale fresh water by desalinization using the process of evaporation and condensation is another alternative source of fresh water.
Large scale desalination no doubt is expensive but would gradually become more and more acceptable as availability of fresh groundwater would become more and more scarce.
Solar desalination units are of low cost and free from any operating cost but the available units at present in the country produce only a few litres per day, not even adequate for a large family.
There is a scope for improved designs. Although, slightly polluted and treated waste water can be used conveniently for agriculture but water with TDS more than 2000 ppm is harmful to most crops. Besides, presence of heavy metals and unbreakable chemicals in irrigation water can cause health problems by concentrating these in the foods grown.
In many cities, vegetables are grown using drain water (sewage) directly. This practice must be discouraged as the vegetables are likely retain harmful microbes. If an advantage of the drain is to betaken at all, the water should be tapped indirectly through shallow dug wells constructed in the vicinity.
The Ground Water polluters should be forced to invest in adequate treatment facilities for the polluted effluents produced by them. So far the Pollution Control Authorities had been lenient in enforcing the norms under the Acts. Similarly, the Water Authorities have not been able to cope up with the gigantic task of treating urban effluents adequately. More progress are to be made in the direction of promoting water conservation practices, decentralized effluent treatment facilities, recycling of waste water, conservation of water bodies and watershed management.      
Climate Change resulting from Global Warming is feared to be bringing in unpredictable changes all over the country in the distribution of water. The frequency and intensity of floods and droughts are expected to increase. To cope with the changing situations, it is strongly recommended that all water users are made aware about the impending dangers and their capacity to cope with the situation is enhanced.
Another popular recommendation is to create a large number of surface water reservoirs as insurance against climate variability.
Artificial groundwater recharge assumes greater importance in this regard.
Groundwater reservoirs have more storage capacity than all the surface water put together. Moreover, groundwater is not open to evaporation and do not occupy any valuable surface area.
At per the continuing trend, the demand for groundwater would continue to increase even though its availability would be shrinking. As a result of which water related conflicts would be on the rise.
In future, only the rich and resourceful would be able to extract the remaining available groundwater in the country using advanced technologies depriving the poor users at large.
It is time that we the common groundwater users understand the challenges and undertake compensatory groundwater recharge for every drop we extract.
The future of groundwater scenario in our country in general appears to be very bleak. There is no doubt that at the present level of groundwater extraction, the water table in most part of our country would continue to fall.
The blanket moratorium under the Environmental Protection Act (1997) on construction of new tube wells is logical and helpful but this at best would merely stabilize the present level of extraction. However, it should be noted that there should be no such undue restrictions in areas which are rich in groundwater occurrence and are categorized as “Safe” zones.
The most important step required to improve the groundwater availability in the over-exploited regions (including semi-critical and critical) of the country is to take up large scale artificial groundwater recharge activities. Although the concept is well appreciated but any major initiative for large scale construction of artificial recharge structures has so far remained neglected.
In countries where such programmes are going on, the implementation may be said to be tardy at best. The usual emphasis of Government programmes on low cost designs and high target is not very helpful. Unless, there is emphasis on quality and effectiveness, such efforts are likely to create a large number of poorly functioning and rapidly deteriorating structures.
Conversion of an abandoned dug well in to an artificial groundwater recharge (AGR) structure by connecting a rain water collection channel through a silt retention pit is basically a make shift arrangement. These structures may not be very effective but there are no harm if these are done in large numbers and maintained by the farmers themselves.
But in large scale national level programmes for construction of AGR structures under Government funding, the structures must be made more site specific, effective and durable. Programmes should also be designed to encourage the present groundwater users to construct compensatory AGR structures in their respective areas.
Presence of buildings and covered surface areas in metropolis do not allow much groundwater recharge as these produce high run-off.
The urban run-off known as storm water generated in large volume usually go away as waste water. Arrangements should be made in all metropolises to collect and divert the storm water in to various parks and available open space to form new water bodies.
All the existing water bodies in urban areas should also be cleaned and maintained as these are very important source of groundwater recharge.
As consumption of stored rainwater is still not acceptable in most urban areas, the roof tops must therefore be used necessarily to collect rainwater and divert the same exclusively for groundwater recharge through an appropriate structure. Large scale groundwater pollution on the other hand has been making a considerable quantity of fresh water permanently unsuitable for human use.
Decentralized waste water treatment plants are to be installed in all industries, hotels, housing societies and all places of mass water consumption for recycling. Treated sewage and waste water are to be used as far as possible for agriculture and similar other non domestic use. Industries should bring in technologies to enhance water conservation and recycle treated water.
All sewage and waste water must be treated adequately before releasing into the nearby rivers. Pollution control Acts for water are to be implemented more vigorously to protect our rivers.
It is true that groundwater has been over-exploited in most parts of the country. But this is not the case in some selected regions falling under large alluvium basins such as Ganga and Brahmaputra and similar other river basins.
As per groundwater zoning these areas fall under “Safe” category. Consequently, there should not be any undue restrictions in these areas for construction of new tube wells nor any need for undertaking artificial groundwater recharge programmes. In fact more and more groundwater should be extracted from the flood prone areas to create extra space within the groundwater reservoir.  
Should a common person bother to understand groundwater? We all are groundwater users. Farmers use it for irrigation, industries for production and a vast majority of population use it for drinking and domestic purposes. Groundwater, although a renewable resource but is limited in its occurrence in time and space.
The mindless pursuit for extracting more and more groundwater by all the users has already started exerting tremendous pressure on this limited resource. A good part of groundwater is also fast becoming unfit for human use both due to natural and anthropological activities.
As water level is falling at an alarming rate in most part of the hard rock areas of the country, farmers are continuously struggling to cope up with the situation.
Millions of open dug wells have either gone dry or are yielding little water, and that too mostly seasonally. Deepening of a dug well in hard rock areas is expensive and difficult (needs blasting).
Even after that, there is no guarantee that regional water level will not go down any further in the near future demanding more deepening. In the absence of proper guidance many farmers in their desperation take a chance and invest in drilling deep bore well. Unfortunately, many a times this gamble does not pay as the bore well fails to yield the requisite quantity of water. A failure like this not only causes a huge financial burden to the farmer but also takes away his spirit and hope for a longtime to come.
In order to have a dependable source of water, most farmers,industries, housing colonies and others construct their own bore well. But such ventures are not free from problems as the users face frequent financial losses and inconveniences due to associated uncertainties. Questions like what should be the depth and diameter of the well, how to find a good location for a yielding well, what would be the expected quantity and quality of water from the well etc continue to arise and remain unanswered.
As a common man starts understating the basics of groundwater occurrence and the associated limitations, future management of this vital resource become a more feasible task.

ACID RAIN

Acid rain is rain consisting of water droplets that are unusually acidic because of atmospheric pollution - most notably the excessive amounts of sulfur and nitrogen released by cars and industrial processes.
Acid rain is also called acid deposition because this term includes other forms of acidic precipitation such as snow.
Acidity itself is determined based on the pH level of the water droplets. PH is the scale measuring the amount of acid in the water and liquid.
the pH scale ranges from 0 to 14 with lower pH being more acidic while a high pH is alkaline; seven is neutral.
Normal rain water is slightly acidic and has a pH range of 5.3-6.0. Acid deposition is anything below that scale.
Today, acid deposition is present in the northeastern United States, southeastern Canada, and much of Europe including portions of Sweden, Norway, and Germany. In addition, parts of South Asia,South Africa,Sri Lanka, and Southern India are all in danger of being impacted by acid deposition in the future. Continue Acid deposition can occur through natural sources like volcanoes but it is mainly caused by the release of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide during fossil fuel combustion. When these gases are discharged into the atmosphere they react with the water, oxygen, and other gases already present there to form sulfuric acid, ammonium nitrate, and nitric acid. These acids then disperse over large areas because of wind patterns and fall back to the ground as acid rain or other forms of precipitation. The gases responsible for acid deposition are normally a byproduct of electric power generation and the burning of coal.
As such, it began entering the atmosphere in large amounts during the Industrial Revolution and was first discovered by a Scottish chemist, Robert Angus Smith, in 1852. In that year, he discovered the relationship between acid rain and atmospheric pollution in Manchester, England.
Although it was discovered in the 1800s, acid deposition did not gain significant public attention until the 1960s and the term acid rain was coined in 1972.
Public attention further increased in the 1970s when the New York Times published reports about problems occurring in the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire.
After studying the Hubbard Brook Forest and other areas today, there are several important impacts of acid deposition on both natural and man-made environments. Aquatic settings are the most clearly impacted by acid deposition though because acidic precipitation falls directly into them. Deposition also runs off of forests, fields, and roads and flows into lakes, rivers, and streams.
As this acidic liquid flows into larger bodies of water, it is diluted but over time, acids can accrue and lower the overall pH of the body. Acid deposition also causes clay soils to release aluminum and magnesium further lowering the pH in some areas. If the pH of a lake drops below 4.8, its plants and animals risk death and it is estimated that around 50,000 lakes in the United States and Canada have a pH below normal (about 5.3 for water).Several hundred of these have a pH too low to support any aquatic life.
Aside from aquatic bodies, acid deposition can significantly impact forests. As acid rain falls on trees, it can make them lose their leaves, damage their bark, and stunt their growth. By damaging these parts of the tree, it makes them vulnerable to disease, extreme weather, and insects. Acid falling on a forest’s soil is also harmful because it disrupts soil nutrients, kills microorganisms in the soil, and can cause calcium deficiency.
Trees at high altitudes are also susceptible to problems induced by acidic cloud cover as the moisture in the clouds blankets them. Damage to forests by acid rain is seen all over the world, but the most advanced cases are in Eastern Europe.
It’s estimated that in Germany and Poland, half of the forests are damaged, while 30% in Switzerland have been affected. Acid deposition also has an impact on architecture and art because of its ability to corrode certain materials. As acid lands on buildings (especially those constructed with limestone) it reacts with minerals in the stones sometimes causing it to disintegrate and wash away.
In conclusion acid deposition can corrode modern buildings, cars, railroad tracks, airplanes, steel bridges, and pipes above and below ground.

VEHICLE POISON ON THE ENVIRONMENT

Moving vehicles involves combustion
of fossil fuel, a process that emits gasses and affects the environment negatively.
According to the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, more than half of the air pollution in the nation is caused by mobile sources, primarily automobiles. contributing to the
pollution capabilities of cars is the fact that they are loaded with various fluids, which adversely affect the environment in the cases of
leakage or improper disposal.
A running car engine release
various types of gasses and particles into the environment which have negative effects on the environment. Of particular concern to the environment are carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons, various volatile organic compounds, nitrogen oxides; sulfur oxides and particulate matter, Other emissions that affect human health and create smog include ozone and carbon monoxide.
Cars emit gases that affect the
environment in several ways.
 carbon a member of green house gases which contribute to global warming is released by vehicles into the environment. Some air pollutants
and particulate matter from cars can be deposited on soil and surface waters where they enter the food chain; these substances can affect the reproductive, respiratory,
immune and neurological systems of
animals.
Nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides are major contributors to acid rain, which changes the pH of waterways and soils and can harm the organisms that rely on these resources.
 Has if not bad enough gases emitted by moving cars is gradually destroying the ozone layer that helps to protect life on earth from the sun’s ultraviolet rays.
Substances that contribute to ozone depletion usually have high concentrations of chlorine or bromine atoms and include chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), halons, methyl bromide, carbon tetrachloride and methyl chloroform.
Vehicle emissions contain chlorine or
bromine, and therefore have effects on ozone depletion.
Vehicles contain different fluids,
including motor oil, antifreeze, gasoline, air-conditioning refrigerants, and brake,
transmission, hydraulic and windshield-wiper fluids. These fluids are toxic to humans and animals, and can pollute waterways if they leak from a vehicle or are not properly disposed off . Vehicle fluids are exposed to heat and oxygen when an engine is running, and undergo chemical changes. These fluids also pick up heavy metals from engine wear and tear, making them even more toxic to the environment. Most vehicles manufactured before 1994 use CFC-12 as a coolant, Alternative refrigerants are available, but some still have an impact on the ozone layer.
Why not leave your car in the garage today and join the bus.

EFFECT OF EATING MEAT ON THE ENVIRONMENT

Two meatless days a week will not be
enough to undo the environmental damage that farming industries caused. The UN Environmental Program (Unep) is asking us to reduce our meat consumption in half.
If the early man doesn’t control his dying appetite for meat, the fragile balance of the natural world will fall off. As reported by the Unep, the huge expansion of industrial beef-farming methods in the Europe and the US causes “a web of water
and air pollution.” The fertilizers, pesticides and chemical weed-killers so freely used in growing grain to feed ruminants don’t only pass
into the bodies of beasts (and eventually man).
The sea animals are dying from toxic
runoff. The bees that pollinate our plants are dying out . And methane emissions produced by our ruminants industries are proved to cause global warming on a very high scale.
And while people in poor countries actually need more animal protein, advanced countries are consuming much more meat than they need
to maintain healthy living.
Professor Mark Sutton, author of the Unep study, says, “Eat meat, but less often – make it special. Portion size is key. Many portions are too big, more than you want to eat.”.
The UN scientists paint an optimistic picture in which the undernourished in the world are given more meat, while developed countries conscientiously reduce meat in their diet.
The best people can do is start
planning more meatless meals every week. One less cow killed, one less cow raised. At least, people can turn to poultry and pork.
Chicken in particular is the most
environmentally friendly meat, according to Professor Sutton.
” Chicken is one of the most efficient
meats, as it grows very quickly and
you can collect the manure,” he says.
The Unep study forewarns of dark scenario for the planet. “Unless action is taken, increases in
pollution and per capita consumption
of energy and animal products will
exacerbate nutrient losses, pollution
levels and land degradation, further
threatening the quality of our water,
air and soils, affecting climate and
biodiversity.”