喜闻乐见的踏步の坑爹纯文字作业第二弹~

如题~我又来骗存在感啦~~~

=1685=

上学期Transport & Planning的一篇作业~完成时间记得是在四月份到五月份之间。。。

以上~




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Transport Activities and Climate Change


Introduction
The world is experiencing a warmer climate. The booming development of industry since the Industrial Revolution has been contributing to greenhouse gases emissions enormously. However, the ratio of greenhouse gases emitted by transport activities is increasing dramatically while most industries are becoming greener and greener with the development of technology. This essay will illustrate the factors contribute climate change and problems caused by climate change, and then it will argue that present transport activities is one of the most important source of greenhouse gases which are aggravating global climate. At last, providing public transport while restricting private car use, encouraging low-emission transport modes such walking and cycling, and increasing urban population density, as possible and effective solutions will be discussed.


Climate change

Climate is vital for the survival of all sorts of flora and fauna living in this planet. Climate usually represented by its elements including temperature, precipitation, weather, and a range of behaviors of the atmosphere (Wuebbles & Jain, 2001 p. 100). Nowadays, the global population is facing a warming planet. Various studies have been focused on the issue about climate change and convictive evidences have been found and proofing that the global climate is changing. According to the record from the World Meteorological Organization mentioned by Pittock (2009), when compared with all the reliable records since 1850, the decade of 1998-2007 was proved as the warmest decade and the surface temperature has been increased by approximately 0.74 degree Celsius during the 20th century. The increasing emissions of greenhouse gases generated by human activities after the Industrial Revolution are the major factor contributing to the warming climate. These greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, water vapor and nitrous oxide can absorb long-wave energy emitted by the earth and contribute to the greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide which occupies 82.2% of emissions of all greenhouse gases is generated mainly by consuming fossil fuel (Vendramin, 2007, p. 22). The greenhouse effect is significant to keep the planet warn enough to survive, however, the increasing density of greenhouse gases aggravates the greenhouse effect and results in the global average temperature will rise by 1 to 5 degree Celsius in the next century (Wuebbles & Jain, 2001, p. 100). Actually, at the present, the concentration of the growth of the greenhouse gases has been approved as the maximum during the past five decades (Vendramin, 2007, p. 22). There is an urgent appeal to control the emission of greenhouse gases and relieve the warming situation.

The stability of the ecosystem of the planet has been threatened due to the 0.74℃ increase of the global temperature and during the past years, various problems related with changing climate have been observed. Reports by IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) in 2007 show that 89% of observable physical and ecological systems are affected by the raising temperature distinctly (Pittock, 2009, p.13). According to the report by IPCC (2007, cited in Marsden & Rye, 2010), the increasing frequency of extreme weathers, rising sea level which threatens a number of big cities and the reduced yield of food and water resources are all potential or already experienced problems resulted by the warming global temperature. Bangladesh is one of the typical examples which are suffering serious impacts of global warming. Bangladesh experiences floods frequently because its low-elevation geographical characteristic and the rising sea level, and people living in this country is facing a climbing mortality which is resulted by floods and other extreme weather events (Khan et al. 2011, p.22). However, not only are human beings suffering the threats caused by climate change. The decreased biodiversity is a typical result of the influence of the global warming. Plants are the most fragile groups facing the changing climate. Because of the increasing possibility of forest fires, pests, and diseases resulted by heat stress, agriculture and forest have been affected by the warming climate (Pittock, 2009, p. 13). What is more, once forest which plays a significant role of habitat for faunas disappeared, lives in the forest will not be able to survive. One report by D’Amen and Bombi (2009, p. 3065) demonstrate that many Italian amphibians are threatened by the climate change because their habitats is endangered and the disappearing water resources. Moreover, the PH of the oceans has been decreased by the density of greenhouse gases and become acid which is lethal to various marine organisms (Pittock, 2009, p. 13). All of these studies demonstrate that the balance of the ecosystem has been damaged by climate change.


Transportation as a cause contribute to climate change

The rising temperature is mainly caused by the increasing density of greenhouse gases which are generated by human activities enormously. Most emissions of greenhouse gases were generated after the Industrial Revolution by consuming coal, petroleum and other fossil fuels. According to Wuebbles and Jain (2001, p. 105), emissions of carbon dioxide have exceeded 6.5 GtC/year in 1995 when compared with less than 0.1 GtC/year in the first half of nineteenth century and this figure is still growing. Moreover, the concentration of carbon dioxide doubled after the Industrial Revolution and 1.5-4.5℃ increase in temperature may be resulted by the doubled concentration. Wuebbles and Jain (2001, p. 108) argue that emissions of carbon dioxide should be responsible for 64% of the radiative factors contributing to climate change. They also found that the growth of the emissions is released in recent years and dropping from 3% per year before 1950 to 1.8% per year by 1975 to 1995. However, the emissions are still growing at a dramatic speed. In UK and Germany, the greenhouse gases emissions generated by transportation have increased dramatically since 1995 while the emissions emitted from other activities are declining (Vendramin, 2007, p. 22). Actually, transport emissions are playing an important role of the resource of greenhouse gases emissions. Vendramin (2007) reports that among European Union countries, 21 per cent of all the greenhouse gases are emitted by transport activities while 9 per cent by agriculture, 8 per cent by industry, 3 per cent by waste disposal and 59 per cent by other activities. The ratio of transportation emitted greenhouse gases in the US is much higher. According to the report by McCormack and Edwards (2011, p. 37), statistics by the Department of Transportation show that in 2006, 28 per cent of greenhouse gases in the US was generated by burning fossil fuel during the transportation activities. Approximately 25 per cent of the global greenhouse gases are generated by the transportation sector and this figure will continuously grow because the economic development (Short, 2008, p. 21). It is clear that, while other sectors are diminishing their greenhouse gases emissions, the future development of transportation will become more and more influential on climate change issues.

Most of transport emissions are generated by road transport. In 2005, road transportation emissions occupied about 23 per cent of global greenhouse gases emissions while other transport sectors only take 7 per cent (Short, 2008, p .21). In Australia, road transport is responsible for 88 per cent emissions generated by transport sectors (Stanley, Hensher & Loader, 2011, p. 1021). Moreover, private cars use is one of the major resources of greenhouse gases emissions. According to the statistics by the Department of Transportation, in the U.S., 63 per cent greenhouse gases is emitted by cars and small trucks, 9 per cent is generated by aviation transportation and buses and railway only produced less than 2 per cent(McCormack & Edwards, 2011, p. 37). The same situation could be observed in European countries. For example, in the UK, passenger cars contributed to more than 75 millions of tones of carbon dioxide, which is dramatically higher than other types of transportation in 2007 (DfT, cited in Masden & Rye, 2010, p. 671). Thus, the car-dependency lifestyle is the most serious factor contributing to the greenhouse gases emissions.


Greener transport

Scholars, governments and international organizations have been studying on feasible solutions to control the transportation related greenhouse gases emissions, especially the road transport emissions. A number of targets have been proved to restrict the emissions of greenhouse generated by transport. Greenhouse gases emissions by transport sectors in 2050, Australia should will be reduced to 80% below the figure of 2000, and in order to achieve this goal, approximately 120 Mt carbon dioxide emissions should be cut down by 2050 (Stanley, Hensher & Loader, 2011, p. 1021). A similar goal could be found in the UK, to be specific, emissions should be decreased 80% by 2050 compared with the data in 1990(Marsden & Rye, 2010, p. 669). Various methods are provided to achieve these goals. Improvement of public transport is recognized as an advisable choice to reduce the emissions. McCormack and Edwards (2011, p. 39) argue that by providing public transport which is environmental friendly, the usage of private cars will decrease, consequently, environmental impacts caused by transport will be released. The above authors also quote reports by the American Public Transportation Association and suggest that the carbon footprint of one household can be decreased by 10 per cent if one of its members stops everyday driving. Currently, only 6 to 13 per cent motorized trips in Australia are achieved by public transport and a number of cities are planning to increase this figure to 20 per cent by 2020 because of the increasing numbers of passengers (Stanley, Hensher & Loader, 2011, p. 1023). Moreover, Hensher and Stanley (cited in Stanley, Hensher & Loader, 2011, p. 1023) report that 20 per cent decrease in private car use and doubled public transport patronage will be achieve by 2013 if the price of fuel increasing one Australia dollar per year. Reducing reliance on private cars will decrease the consumption of petroleum, as a consequence, transport emitted greenhouse gases will be declined.

Another widely discussed efficient method to reduce the emissions is to encourage walking and cycling. Both of walking and cycling are considered as two of the lowest carbon emissions transport modes. According to a study by Stanley, Hensher & Loader (2011, p. 1023), distance of 40 percent trips in Melbourne is within 2km which is appropriate for walking and cycling, and 22 percent trips is within 5km which is an accessible distance for cycling and most Australia roads are designed as cyclists friendly, however, because cyclists need to share roads with motor vehicles and most consider it is dangerous, the ratio of cycling is limited. Not only in Australia, but also in other countries, cycling should be suitable for people’s daily trips. In the UK, in 2006, the distance of 57 percent of trips by motor vehicles is within 5km, moreover, almost these trips are relying on private cars (Ibid, cited in Marsden and Rye, 2010, p. 672). Consequently, it is significant to improve support infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists. In fact, some actions have been taken in Australia and the government anticipates that by 2020, 25 percent of all trips will rely on bicycles and walking, and 4.4 Mt of greenhouse gases emissions will be reduced by this achievement (Stanley, Hensher & Loader 2011, p. 1023).

Policies in urban planning are also effective for reducing transport related greenhouse gases emissions. More compact urban conditions are significant to reduce the car dependency issues and relative factors contributing to climate change (Peter, 2006, p. 6). Newman and Kenworthy (1999, p, 100) argue that compact city means the high density which is one of the most important factors to public transportation. They also illustrate that the energy consumed by private cars is increasing dramatically while the population density is decreasing, for instance, in 1990, the cities like Phoenix and Los Angeles with low density consume more about 60,000MJ per person when compared energy consumed by about 5,000MJ per capita with high-density Asian cities like Hong Kong and Seoul. Moreover, they also found that the 56 percent and 74 percent trips in Seoul and Hong Kong are by public transport and the figures are much higher when compared with American and Australian cities. What is more, a well designed road network can reduce traffic congestions efficiently increasing transport efficiency and decrease energy consumption. Other actions are undertaken positively as well, for example, encouraging research on greener fuels, new type of engines and other environmental friendly transport technology. However, results of the development of new technology will not be widely applied immediately.


Conclusion

In summary, this essay illustrates the influences of climate change and factors contribute to climate change. It shows that increasing concentration of greenhouse gases which can aggravate greenhouse effect is the mainly factors resulting in the climate change and various problems could be caused by the climate change including the rising sea level more and more frequent appearance of extreme weathers, species extinction and disease. This study also demonstrates that transportation is one of the major resources emitting greenhouse gases because it is completely relying on fossil fuel consumption, particularly road transport activities. Thus, actions which can improve the sustainability of transportation are discussed at last. It shows that by providing effective public transport system, reducing the use of private cars and encouraging walking and cycling, greenhouse gases emissions can be decreased dramatically. It also recommends that urban density should be increased by planning policies which is important to support public transport and reduce environmental impacts caused by transport activities. By providing greener transport systems, emissions of greenhouse gases will be decreased obviously, consequently, problems of climate change will be relieved.








References

D’Amen, M & Bombi, P 2009, ‘Global warming and biodiversity: Evidence of climate-linked amphibian declines in Italy’, Biological Conservation, vol. 142, no. 12, pp. 3060-3067.
Khan, AE, Xun, WW, Ahsan, H & Vineis, P 2011 ‘Climate change, sea-level rise, & health impacts in Bangladesh’, Environment, vol. 53, no. 5, pp. 18-33.
Marsden, G & Rye, T 2010, ‘The governance of transport and climate change’, Journal of Transport Geography, vol. 18, no. 6, pp. 669-678.
McCormack, F and Edwards, FL 2011, ‘Greener transport mitigates climate change’, The Public Manager, vol. 40, no. 1, p. 37.
Newman, P 2006, ‘Transport greenhouse gas and Australian suburbs: what planners can do’, Australian Planner, vol. 43, no. 2, pp. 6-7.
Newman, P & Kenworthy, J 1999, ‘The pattern of automobile dependence and global cities’, in Sustainablility and cities, Island Press, Washington.
Pittock, AB 2009, Climate change: the science, impacts and solutions, 2nd edn, CSIRO Publishing.
Short, J 2008, ‘Transport and energy: the challenge of climate change’, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, no. 266, pp. 20.
Stanley, JK, Hensher, DA, Loader, C 2011, ‘Road transport and climate change: stepping off the greenhouse gas’, Transportation Research Part A, vol. 45, no. 10, pp. 1020-1030.
Vendramin, M 2007, ‘Greenhouse gas emissions’, Slovenian Economic Mirror, vol.13, no. 6, pp. 22.
Wuebbles, DJ & Jain, AK 2001, ‘Concerns about climate change and the role of fossil fuel use’, Fuel Processing Technology, vol. 71, no. 1, pp. 99-119.

专业外语君尼又来了啊_(:3」∠)_

=560=可以照顾一下吾辈这样的人给个中文版咩

同求中文版~#10t

毛线球儿 发表于 2012-8-29 11:42
同求中文版~

二姐快去谷歌#12t

废材彤 发表于 2012-8-29 15:10
二姐快去谷歌

谷歌都素骗人的~

Mian_弥安 发表于 2012-8-29 09:19
专业外语君尼又来了啊_(:3」∠)_

可以照顾一下吾辈这样的人给个中文版咩 ...

=1893=我会说自己写的东西看第二遍，有些地方自己都会看不懂么...