Environment

Environment – reducing our impact by walking more!

“Walking creates a smaller ecological footprint”, says Celia Wade-Brown, an Australasian member of IFP.

Motor vehicles mostly produce carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, nitrous oxides, particulate matter. Even electric or hydrogen powered vehicles use energy which is rarely from renewable sources.

Climate Change

2005 was the hottest year on record, edging out 1998. The significance of this is that 1998 experienced a powerful El Niño that boosted global temperatures. 2005 had no such help, and apparently didn’t need it.
(Source: National Aeronautical and Space Agency, USA -NASA)
The animation on the right side of this page shows the increase in annual mean temperature in ten year increments from 1891 until today.

Protecting our precious climate means changing our unsustainable transport habits. Transport greenhouse gas emissions are growing around the world.

New Priorities and Policies

Long distance journeys require better land use planning, long distance public transport, improved telecommunicatiosn to increase the effectiveness of tele-conferences to replace face-to-face for some meetings, or radical re-planning of priorities.

Walking could satisfy many more trips than it does now. In New Zealand, for example, 30% of private vehicle trips are under 2km.
(Source landtransport.govt.nz)

These short motor vehicle trips are a significant source of emissions due to the "cold start" problem.
First, the engine has to work harder to circulate cold oil. As well, fuel combustion is much less efficient in a cold engine and the air-fuel mixture is richer – which means a sharp increase in pollutants. To make matters worse, until the converter reaches its peak operating temperature (between 400°C and 800°C), all of the engine's emissions pass through the exhaust untreated.
(Source : Office of Energy Efficiency, Canada - www.oee.nrcan.gc.ca)

The adverse effects of cars and other vehicles on the local environment may also discourage walking because of smell, noise and danger.

Vehicles can also contribute to pollution of fresh and sea water due to the chemicals in run-off from normal usage and from inconsiderate washing of vehicles by stormwater drains.

This section is taken care of by:
Celia Wade-Brown, New Zealand, celia.wadebrown(at)livingstreets.org.nz;
www.livingstreets.org.nz

For more information on the Transport and Environment see the following websites:
Transport & Environment
EcoMobility