Gasoline Engine Persuasive Essay

Imagine a world where every Canadian winter is sunny and 70 degrees. While this might sound nice to Canadians who deal with brutal winters every year, this means that summers closer to the equator would be well over 100 degrees constantly. Rendering these places almost uninhabitable, our world would be in a crisis. Unfortunately, this is where our world may be headed one day, if we as humans don’t clean up energy consumption habits. One major contributing factor to global warming are the cars humans drive every, more specifically the engines that power them. Gasoline engines are a major problem because of the emissions they put into the atmosphere; however, electric engines and other alternatives may prove to be the future.
Gasoline engines have been powerhouses literally and figuratively for a long time. Not only
have they been around since the late 1800’s, but ever since their creation they have been making human lives easier.
However, all that glitters isn’t gold. While in practicality gasoline engines do everything that we need them to do such as transport us around, they lack in one area. That area is their emission output. The gas that is the most prolific and the one that makes up more than 65 percent of global emissions is Carbon Dioxide. According to the United State Environmental Protection Agency, “Fossil fuel use is the primary source of CO2” (United State EPA). But why does this matter? Why is gasoline consumption a detrimental practice? Basically, CO2 and other greenhouse gases get trapped within the Earth's atmosphere. These gasses reflect the sun's rays many more times than usual which causes increased temperatures on Earth, hence the term global warming. These increased temperatures have many detrimental effect that are both short and long term. Current effects include: worldwide ice melt,
habitat loss, rising sea levels, and increased precipitation. According National Geographic, “Ice is melting worldwide, especially at the Earth’s poles. This includes mountain glaciers, ice sheets covering West Antarctica and Greenland, and Arctic sea ice” (Nat Geo). This melting contributes to rising sea levels, habitat loss for animals who live on or near the ice, and the increase in precipitations levels. How does this affect humans? Not only will we lose animals such as penguins and polar bears but with more precipitation the risk for horrible flash floods increase. This has the potential to destroy many low lying civilized areas. While gasoline engines many contribute to a lot of this there are several ways around all of this.
The first electric car was built in 1835 by the inventor Thomas Davenport. This means it is older than most gasoline combustion engines, rendering the electric car almost older than any gas powered car. Electric cars have always been cleaner than gasoline powered engines. According to the U.S. department of Energy, “EVs produce zero tailpipe emissions” (US ENERGY). EVs (Electric Vehicles) are more environmentally conscious and they help to reduce the dangerous CO2 from the atmosphere. If more people switched to electric vehicles complications due to global warming could be slowed down. For example, if more countries used greener energy such as electricity for transportation a world wide melt could be reduced. If the Earth stays cooler longer that means the risk for rising ocean levels and flash floods are reduced. This could potentially save millions of lives but also saving money due to people relocating. However, electric cars aren’t the only alternative on the market.
When most people are searching for an alternative to there car one of the first things that pops into their mind is a bicycle. Unless they have to commute a long distance every day, a bicycle is a cheap and efficient way to get from one place to another. Not only are they cheaper than cars, but they also eliminate the need to buy to fuel. This can save thousands of dollars a year not only on fuel but also insurance. Another alternative to the gasoline engine is public transportation, carpooling, or ride services such as taxis or Uber. While these options don't technically eliminate gasoline engines they greatly reduce the amount of people using them. For example, if 20 people choose to ride the bus then that essentially eliminates 20 cars from the road and replaces it with one bus. According to the American Public Transportation Association, “A single commuter switching his or her commute to public transportation can reduce a household’s carbon emissions by 10 percent and up to 30 percent if he or she eliminates a second car” (APTA). Not only are these modes of transportation economically friendly but almost all of them can help people to save money.
There is no doubt that gasoline engines are a problem that needs to be solved soon. Electric cars and many other alternatives are a good way to cut down on atmospheric emissions. These emissions cause many problems such as Arctic ice melt which cuts down on the habitat for many animals such as polar bears. One of the most popular alternatives to the gas engine, the electric car, is making many headways and allowing some people to eliminate their carbon output. However, this isn’t the only alternatives. Bicycles, public transportation, and carpools all help to reduce unnecessary emission into the atmosphere. If governments around the world don’t start thinking about this problem more, humans could one day live on an Earth where polar bears are just as rare as dinosaurs.