EN254G

Ass. 5: Essay
Submitted by Rukhma Ashraf
Date of submission: 08.03.2023

Global Warming: Transport Sector’s Contribution

Global warming is a global phenomenon. Global warming means, in simple words, an
ongoing increase in the average global temperature. It is believed that this continuous increase
in the average global temperature contributes to disastrous climate changes such as heat
waves, wildfires, flooding, etc.
There is ongoing research and discussion regarding the global warming. Global warming is,
most likely, due to the increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a sub-organization of the United Nations
(UN), in its fourth assessment report in 2007, claims that the global warming is most likely
due to increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is the most
important greenhouse gas and is created in connection with burning of fossil fuels, mainly
coal and oil. The carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere has been increased by roughly
thirty-five percent since the middle of the nineteenth century. To counteract the effects of
global warming, it is therefore necessary to reduce emissions of the greenhouse gases.
The second UN Global Conference on Sustainable Transports was held in China in October
2021. According to the statistics in the report from the conference, the global transport sector
contributes about twenty-four percent of the global greenhouse gas emissions. Ninety-five
percent of the world's means of transport use fossil fuels.
Carbon dioxide from the transport sector negatively affects our global environment. The
average global temperature has been increasing, which results in serious climate disasters
such as floods, heat waves, droughts, torrential rains and much more. Such events are a threat
to the habitats of plants, animals and humans.
In addition to carbon dioxide, other air pollutants such as nitrogen and sulfur oxides, small
particles and hydrocarbons are emitted. The County Administrative Board in Stockholm
published a report called "Health effects of a changed climate" in 2012. According to the
report, air pollution has a direct negative impact on our health and causes cardiovascular and
respiratory diseases.
Global warming has a significant effect on infectious diseases, and the world has witnessed a
profound rise in these diseases (Kurane 2010). Water- and foodborne infectious diseases, such
as cholera and non-cholera diarrheal diseases, are on the rise in poor and developing countries
with a poor sewerage system. Vector-borne infectious diseases, such as malaria and dengue
fever, are also increasing in poor and developing countries.
According to Brand, C and Anable, J (2019), a ban on the production of vehicles that use
fossil fuels will help to reduce green house gases in the environment. Governments and
private sector need instead to invest in electrified means of transport and in the production of
green (fossil-free) electricity.
According to the fourth assessment report 2007 by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC), the consequences of doing nothing will be very disastrous. People will live a
very hard life and many of them need to relocate to other places or other countries to survive.
There will be very harsh weather in many parts of the world. Many countries will become too
warm to live in, and many other countries will become too cold to survive in. There will be
food scarcity due to this harsh climate. Most of the agricultural land will not be suitable for
agriculture due to lack of water and extreme weather. The world will witness huge climate-
migration towards livable countries. People and countries will fight to find food and water
supplies. According to Kurane (2010), infectious deceases will be on new records, and life
expectancy of humans will fall. We need to react now. Otherwise, our future generations will
live in a threatened habitat.
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References
Brand, C. & Anable, J. (2019). ‘Disruption’ and ‘continuity’ in transport energy systems: the
case of the ban on new conventional fossil fuel vehicles. European Council for an
Energy Efficient Economy. https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/147678/
Kurane, I. (2010). The effect of global warming on infectious diseases. Osong Public Health
and Research Perspectives, 1(1), 4-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phrp.2010.12.004
Parry, M.L., Canziani, O.F., Palutikof, J.P., et al (2007). Climate change 2007: Impacts,
adaptation and vulnerability: Contribution of working group II to the fourth assessment
report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change. (pp. 391-431). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
United Nations, (2021). Report of the Second United Nations Global Sustainable Transport
Conference. https://sdgs.un.org/sites/default/files/2022
06/GSTC2_Conference_Report.pdf