Air Pollution in Mexico City Essays

Air Pollution in Mexico City Essays Air Pollution in Mexico City Paper Air Pollution in Mexico City Paper 2005). More than 20% of Mexico entire population lives in its capital and more than 0 % of the countrys industrial output is produced here (Edgerton et al. N. Although Mexico City is considered one of the worlds largest cities, it is still growing at a rate exceeding 3% annually. Moreover, the number of vehicles daily traveling on its streets makes up more than three million (Edgerton, et al. , n. D). All the factors listed above contribute to Mexico Citys poor air quality. Mexico City is a perfect example of one of the burgeoning cities that experience severe air pollution. The ozone concentration in Mexico City is one of the highest in the world, being more than four times higher than the accepted norms. Particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and some other harmful gases also exceed the Mexican health advisory level (Walsh, 1999). Nevertheless, comprehensive air quality management programs since 1 990 have contributed to major reductions in the concentrations Of some pollutants such as lead, carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide (Nominal Nominal, n. D. ). Sulfur in diesel fuel has been reduced from 0. 5% to 0. 05%. Many old buses and trucks of Mexico City were replaced by newer ones powered by more modern and cleaner engines. In addition, unleaded fuel was introduced at that time to make the vehicle emissions elatedly cleaner (Edgerton et al, n. Although the above measures contributed to a slight positive change in Mexico Citys air quality, serious air pollution problems still persist. The poor quality of air is the result of several factors: emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels in motor vehicles and for industrial processes, energy production, high dust levels due to local constructions, population groom (Nominal Nominal, n. Those human demands on the ecosystem are changing the landscape with important atmospheric consequences as well as causing threat to human health. People suffer from various diseases starting from insignificant ones like headaches, nausea, and allergic reactions to more serious ones like chronic respiratory disease, lung cancer, heart disease, and even damage to the brain, nerves, liver, or kidneys (How can air pollution hurt my health? , n. Although it is not possible to determine the total impact of Mexico Cues poor air quality on public health, McKinley et al. 2005) calculated that only a 10% reduction Of particulate matter in the air would save 3,000 lives and 10,000 new cases of chronic bronchitis each year, and that reduction of ozone loud save 300 lives. As approximately 80% of particulate matter and nitrogen oxide, 45% of volatile organic compounds, and 30% of sulfur dioxide come from mobile sources, their emissions level should be reduced (McKinley et al. , 2005). One of the possible solutions to reduce air pollution from vehicles is to continue enforcing legal regulations concerning air pollution prevention. As mentioned above, Mexico Citys government has taken several measures and attempted various programs in order to decrease the level of air pollution in the city. The first plan Program Integral era el Control De Ia Contamination n Tomatoes Rica (PICA) was started in 1990 and had major attainments, including the introduction of two-way catalytic converters, the phase-out of leaded gasoline, and the establishment of vehicle emissions standards (McKinley et al. , 2005). The second program, PREPARE 1995-2000 (Program Para Major la cyclical del Eire en el valley De Me OIC Program to Improve Air Quality in the Valley of Mexico) had other major accomplishments, such as the introduction of methyl tertiary butyl ether (METE) in gasoline to improve combustion efficiency, and carried out extractions on the aromatic content of fuels and on the sulfur content in industrial fuel (McKinley et al. , 2005). These programs have had significant impact on reduction of air pollution in the city. That is why more of these kinds of programs should be implemented in Mexico City, so the city can finally reduce the levels of air pollution to acceptable norms. For instance, the government should implement policies concerning taxis. According to Connelly (1999), taxis and individual cars that replaced traditional buses are the most polluting of all forms of transport. Approximately 110,000 taxis circulate the streets of Mexico City (McKinley et al. , 2005, p. 1955). Because of the large number of kilometers traveled each day by taxis, their emissions are quite high. Even though taxis account for only 3. % of Mexico Citys vehicle fleet, the their emissions make 3. 6% of particulate matter, 11 of sulfur dioxide, 10. 7% of carbon monoxide, 10. 2% of nitrogen oxide and 14% of volatile organic compounds of all transportation related emissions (McKinley et al. , 2005). Thus, all the taxis around the city have to be diminished. Instead of taxis, the government should provide the residents tit more buses and minibuses. The advantage of this policy is obvious: if there would be no taxis traveling in the city, less harmful gases would be emitted. Moreover, the analysis made by McKinley et al. 2005) suggests that a turnover of the taxi fleet due to its size and age would benefit from over $70 million US in reduced health impacts from air pollution, and would also benefit from fuel savings, whose costs summed up together, is greater than this measures investment cost. However, there are several drawbacks to this solution. Firstly, taxis are very convenient for people who do not have their win car to travel around more efficiently or to travel to places, which locations are not known to you. For instance, taxis are very beneficial for the tourists who do not know the city. Moreover, most people earn money by working as a taxi driver and total ban of taxis would deprive them of their way of earning money. Therefore, most people might disagree with this policy and solution generally. Another possible solution is to pass the law on telecommuting. Telecommuting or telethon basically means working from a place rather than traditional office environment, usually from home. The stance traveled by a person is a significant factor in air pollution because less distance traveled, less undesirable gases are emitted. As telecommuters work from home, they tend to travel less often. The research indicates that on the telecommuting days, the distance traveled by vehicles is decreased by 76%. Consequently, there are fewer gas emissions: to be more precise, there is a reduction by 64% of total organic gases, 63% of carbon monoxide and 73% of oxides of nitrogen (Sympathy, Saxons Nomination, 1991). Other advantages of telecommuting are that it can be implemented now, as it does to require any expanded planning, design and construction; it is relatively inexpensive to implement; it expands personal choices rather than restricting them, by offering them more flexibility in work and lifestyle (Sympathy et al. 1991). However, some employers and employees would disagree with this solution because there are some disadvantages. Firstly, telecommuting may incite legal issues between organization and employers. Some of the issues they may face are workplace safety and compensation issues (Mills, Wong-Ellison, Werner Clay, 2001 The organization cannot guarantee employees saf ety because employee works out of the office. And if any accident happened to the employee, the organization would not want to compensate employees medical expenses because the employee cannot prove that the accident coco red in the scope of employment. Secondly, lack of interaction with co-workers and isolation from society due to telecommuting, can have negative affects on individuals behavior and attitudes as well as can lead to negative consequences, like anxiety, depression, and even physical ailments (Gained, Kelley Hill, 1999). Moreover, not all jobs are suitable for telecommuting and some employers slide supervising employees they cannot see (Mills, et al. , 2001 Nevertheless, telecommuting should be considered as one of the possible solution, because it is a perfect way to reduce vehicle traveling during the day, consequently reducing air pollution levels. The last, but not the least possible solution is to replace gasoline usage in the city with hydrogen fuel. The transportation sector is currently consuming gasoline and diesel at high rates. More than half of the globally used oil is used for transportation (Kurtosis Kari, 2006). The harmful emissions to the environment are uh to its usage. Therefore, alternative fuels should be used more. Some types of alternative fuels are biological (methanol, ethanol), bodiless and hydrogen. Kurtosis and Kari (2006) compared the fuels listed above and came to conclusion that the use of hydrogen as a fuel would be the most beneficial one. A transition from fossil fuels to hydrogen would decrease the air pollution level because almost zero emissions occur, with water being the only by-product. In addition, hydrogen is the most abundant element on the Earth, so there should not be concerns about running out of its stocks. Moreover, car industries should produce more automobiles with a hydrogen- powered internal combustion engine. Currently, BMW is the only one. BMW also made the automobile to be powered either by hydrogen or gasoline, as the availability of hydrogen refueling stations is low (Kurtosis Kari, 2006). However, there are several disadvantages to this solution. Firstly, hydrogen made from electrolysis of water is very expensive. At 25 C, 65 watt- hours are needed to electrolyte one mole of water, which is 4. KHz of electricity to generate one cubic meter of hydrogen. This electricity comes room the alternator which of course is powered by the engine, which uses energy (Kurtosis Kari, 2006). So, fuel economy is decreased by the same means you are trying to improve fuel economy. But there is an alternative way to produce hydrogen, which is to split the water molecules through the use of wind or solar energy, what is less expensive (Kurtosis Kari, 2006). Another disadvantage is that the number of hydrogen refueling stations is very low. So, if individual runs out of the gas, it will be difficult to find a station to refuel the automobile immediately. To construct ewe hydrogen gas stations will require the government to allocate huge amounts of money. Winter (2006) estimated a hydrogen station construction to cost from $500,000 to over $5 million, depending on station size (30 keg/day 1 ,OHO keg/day). This amount includes the capital costs, installation costs, feedstock costs and fixed operating costs. Despite the disadvantages, producing and using hydrogen instead of gasoline holds the promise of pollution reduction in Mexico City. Mexico City is often said to be the most polluted city in the world. It certainly does pose serious environmental threats o its survival as a city, but it affects regional and global air quality levels as well. Therefore, specific measures have to be taken in order to reduce the air pollution level. There are some basic solutions that could be used, like continue enforcing legal regulations, pass a low on telecommuting and use hydrogen fuel instead of gasoline. All of these have already been implemented and we know that they will work for the environment. Therefore, the government should enforce these solutions and stop the air pollution in Mexico City.