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The Automobile And The Environmental Impacts Of The Automobile Industry

Decent Essays

When in 1885 Karl Benz designed, and developed the first 4 stroke engine that would later become the very heart of the first automobile that we are familiar with today. At the time however, the early inventors and pioneers of the automobile industry thought just of their work as a “horseless carriage” and nothing more, none of them anticipated the age of the automobile that was about to be ushered in, for they just saw the new technology strictly in the context of what it was meant to replace. The automobile however, developed into so much more, becoming one of the defining industries of the entire 20th century and affecting people’s lives in a multitude ways, but most especially the social aspect. This essay would like to highlight the importance that the automobile had on the cultural shift towards the phenomenon of suburbanization and the environmental impacts that ensued due to the change in urban planning to accommodate for our car dependent culture. Ironically enough, when the environmental impacts associated with automobiles are discussed, the one that is not inherently apparent to us, specifically carbon emissions from vehicles is what takes much of the limelight when compared to an issue that is rapidly unfolding right before we. The exponential increase in urban sprawl not only involves the loss of massive amounts of natural habitat but also dramatically increases the risk of flooding in these same suburbs. Disregarding the unsustainability of the continued growth

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