Cycling and the environment-”A friendly bond”

07/06/2023

The natural environment is a complete ecological unit that function as natural system without massive civilized human intervention, including all vegetation, microorganisms, soil, rocks, the atmosphere, and natural phenomena that occur within their boundaries and their nature. Universal natural resources and physical phenomena that lack clear-cut boundaries, such as air, water, and climate, as well as energy, radiation, electric charge, and magnetism, not originating from civilized human actions all are related to the environment. In contrast to the natural environment is the built environment. Built environments are where humans have fundamentally transformed landscapes such as urban settings and agricultural land conversion, the natural environment is greatly changed into a simplified human environment. Even acts which seem less extreme, such as building a mud hut or a photovoltaic system in the desert, the modified environment becomes an artificial one. Though many animals build things to provide a better environment for themselves, they are not human, hence beaver dams, and the works of mound-building termites, are thought of as natural.
People cannot find absolutely natural environments on Earth, and naturalness usually varies in a continuum, from 100% natural in one extreme to 0% natural in the other. The massive environmental changes of humanity have fundamentally effected all natural environments: including from climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution from plastic and other chemicals in the air and water. More precisely, we can consider the different aspects or components of an environment, and see that their degree of naturalness is not uniform.
Taking care of the environment for the benefit of people and natural systems, commonly expressed by environmental scientists and environmentalists include: Elimination of pollution and toxicants in air, water, soil, buildings, manufactured goods, and food.Preservation of biodiversity and protection of endangered species.Conservation and sustainable use of resources such as water, land, air, energy, raw materials, and natural resources. Halting human-induced global warming, which represents pollution, a threat to biodiversity, and a threat to human populations?Shifting from fossil fuels to renewable energy in electricity, heating and cooling, and transportation, which addresses pollution, global warming, and sustainability. This may include public transportation and distributed generation, which have benefits for traffic congestion and electric reliability.Shifting from meat-intensive diets to largely plant-based diets in order to help mitigate biodiversity loss and climate change. Establishment of nature reserves for recreational purposes and ecosystem preservation.Sustainable and less polluting waste management including waste reduction (or even zero waste), reuse, recycling, composting, waste-to-energy, and anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge.Reducing profligate consumption and clamping down on illegal fishing and logging. Slowing and stabilisation of human population growth. Reducing the import of second hand electronic appliances from developed countries to developing countries.
Air pollution is the most lethal environmental threat to the world today. A recent study by the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that breathing polluted air kills 7 million people each year, with India alone accounting for more than a million deaths. Over the past decade, pollution in India has reached catastrophic dimensions. Transportation accounts for about 11% of India's carbon emissions and is a major source of pollution in several cities nationwide. As many as, 14 of 20 most polluted cities in the world, 14 are in India, according to the WHO. In fact, the gravity of the situation has prompted the Indian government to directly leapfrog to the much cleaner Bharat Stage VI (BS VI) emission norms from the current Bharat Stage IV (BS IV) standards.
The increasing motorization in urban and rural areas has given rise to many negativeexternalities such as dependence on fossil fuels, GHG emissions, congestion, pollutionand the associated health impacts. In order to minimize the costs associated with theseexternalities, the current and future projected travel demand needs to be served bysustainable modes of transportation like cycling. Bicycling in contrast, is a clean air form of transportation. It does not create air pollution. Every time you cycle just one mile instead of driving, you save over 300 grams of toxic CO2 greenhouse emissions. Walking or cycling helps to reduce the number of motor vehicles using the roads, lowering congestion and the noise that comes from engines. Bicycle riding uses minimal fossil fuels and is a pollution-free mode of transport. Bikes reduce the need to build, service and dispose of cars. Bicycle riding conserves roadway and residential space, thereby providing opportunities for less concrete and more plant life in urban areas.
Use of bicycle should be encouraged for better environmental impacts. Some useful measures can encourage more people to use this eco-friendly and healthful transport on the road again. Firstly, governments should implement separate cycling lanes that would ensure the safety of cyclists. In addition to that, providing secure parking facilities will also encourage many to use cycles. Restriction on car ownership and increasing the price of fuel would further encourage many to use bicycles instead of driving cars. Finally, awareness campaigns to educate people about the health and environmental benefits of using bicycles could be a great step to motivate more people to use this transport daily.
Government has a great role to play to motivate its citizens to use bicycles and this would guarantee a green environment and a healthy nation. It is also expected that more people use this green transport that would save the environment and keep them fit.
{Riding a bicycle, instead of driving a car, not only creates a better world to breathe, it helps fight climate change and save our planet.}
(Views expressed are personal.)

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