Beijing, the capital of China, has been experiencing a massive increase in vehicle ownership over the past decade. It has become the world's second biggest car market, with 1,000 new vehicles on the street everyday. This trend is not only a problem in Beijing, but throughout China, where the number of motor vehicle sales has increased over the past decade. The number of cars in China is expected to reach 130 million in the next 15 years and bicycle ownership has dropped 26% in the past 5 years.
[...] Biological Impact The increased number of automobiles in Beijing and China will directly increase the level of air pollution, which will exacerbate the negative human health effects. As well, in order to accommodate more cars, new roads will have to be built and/or old roads expanded, which will have an effect on native ecosystems. The gases that are emitted during the combustion of fossil fuels (such as carbon monoxide, voltatile organic compounds, carbonaceous aerosols nitrogen oxides, and sulphur dioxide) react to form secondary pollutants (e.g., ozone, particulate sulphate, nitrate and organic matter) that can have detrimental effects on the ecosystem and human health. [...]
[...] roads in order to make room for more cars, and bikes are being banned from the parking lots of some upscale hotels. Physical Impact Automobiles have many detrimental, irreversible effects on the physical environment, including energy use, air and water pollution, land use, and solid waste. Currently of great concern is the amount of pollution being emitted into the atmosphere, because automobiles are one of the greatest contributors to global warming and poor air quality as a result of their emissions. [...]
[...] Social/Economic Impact As the number of cars continues to increase throughout China, certain undesirable consequences will become increasingly more visible, such as traffic congestion, air and noise pollution, and highway accidents. Current roads were not designed to handle the present surge in cars, and solving this problem by building new roads will disrupt neighborhoods, destroy land, and thus create conflict. The air pollution that is transferred to land or water (via either dry or wet deposition rain) will inflict significant damage to local vegetation and will negatively impact crop yield. This could cause problems in ensuring sufficient food supply since China houses 1/5th of the world's population. [...]
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