Today’s
conquest will be tomorrow’s downfall
In the
years prior to industrialization, the hand crank and heck, even before the invention
of the wheel, pollutants have been affecting the Earths atmosphere, but it has had an excellent system of purifying, Behold, Nature! Nature has been the
atmospheres greatest friend; rain-washes the impurities in the air away, the
ground absorbs, plants feast on carbon dioxide and creates oxygen, and the wind
carries that fresh oxygen into every nook and cranny. But with the increase of the population, and mankinds
need to mass-produce, the Earth’s atmosphere has since suffered greatl! In
almost every decision made by Man, in order to become faster, stronger, in
order to survive has been detrimental to the atmosphere. Decision such as the
growth of industrialization including the burning of fossil fuels, raising
livestock, even using daily house hold items like hair spray, insect killers
and painting supplies.
Prior to
industrialization, everything as done by human, horse, or water power. Then,
everything changed.
In the 13th
century, China created a rocket motor, powered by gunpowder; it was the world’s
first internal combustion engine. Before
the birth of the steam engine, everything as done by the strength of ones back
and hands, horse, or water powered, this invention led the way towards
efficiency, mass production, and towards the avoidance of human error as well
as the way to supply mass amounts of product to demands, be it countryside to
countryside or from continent to continent.
Through the use automobiles, trains and planes, engines of all calibers
have been very high in demand; they also require multiple ingredients to
manufacture as well as requiring a few specific components in order for the
motor to operate. The materials to
create an engine are pretty diverse, First you must mine for the metals needed
(Mining is an extreme environmental issue, and I am not too sure if I will be
getting too far into detail, but if you are interested http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_mining
is a great source to find out about the pollution caused by mining) then
sending that metal to a different factories that specialize in metallurgy (the
science and technology of metals, reaction, purifications, and production) they
will break down all the components in the metal (heating, shaping, cooling)
then send it to a separate manufacturing company to assemble. After assembling
a single engine from a variety of parts from goodness know where (pistons from
China, a timing belt from Cuba, A distributer from Finland, a spark plug
from Ohio) a single working engine contains 500 parts! Imagine how many
factories it takes to manufacture a single engine! Now take that number and
multiply it times 60! A single car has 30,000 parts, not including the
tires! Cars were invented in 1885 but didn’t really become available
for average Americans to purchase since 1908. Factories have been
mass-producing car components for One-hundred and seven years!! Multiply that
number against the number of car, tire, performance auto, and oil manufactures!
I am quite surprised the world has not just burned to a crisp!
Engines (automobiles, planes, farming equipment,
factory machines) all run of fuels and gasoline (recently hydrogen, hybrid, and
electric) when these are burned through, they are released into the air and
form carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide in excess causes respiratory failure,
muscle tremors, and unconsciousness. Carbon dioxide is one of the many factors
causing the greenhouse effect.
"Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Greenhouse Gases Overview." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency. Web. 13 Apr. 2015. <http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/gases.html>.
In my next blog post I will go more into detail over agriculture
and household effects
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