Cycling: The Best Way To Combat Climate Change In 2022

The World Health Organization has named climate change the greatest danger to global public health in this century. Climate change has a variety of direct and indirect consequences on individuals' physical and emotional health. These implications include increased heat-related illnesses, a worsening of lung and heart diseases due to increasing air pollution, direct harm and relocation due to floods, droughts, and other severe weather events, and food poverty. Due to the health co-benefits linked with climate change mitigation, tackling climate change has been called the greatest global health opportunity of the 21st century.

Since the 1990s, the transportation industry has been one of the most challenging sectors to improve in reducing the considerable impacts of fossil fuel consumption and the related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

 

 However, cycling is a reliable and efficient means of transportation that is also convenient. The proportion of Canadians who commute to work by bicycle is between 1% and 3%, although in European cities with suitable cycling infrastructure, this number may surpass 40%. It is conceivable for doctors to advocate for safe cycling infrastructure to local community officials and promote cycling to their patients as a viable active transportation option.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) highlighted cycling as one of the answers to the challenge of keeping the environment safe and sustainable for everyone, both now and in the future, in a special report released in August 2021. The usage of bicycles creates no emissions, has several social and economic advantages, and is one of humanity's most significant opportunities for transitioning to a zero-emissions future.

A recent study indicates that life-cycle carbon dioxide emissions are reduced by 14% for each extra cycling trip and 62% for each driving trip omitted. Using a bicycle instead of a vehicle reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 150 grams per kilometer. Electric cargo bikes lower carbon emissions by ninety percent compared to diesel vehicles. Even on a part-time basis, forgoing the use of a vehicle in metropolitan areas in favor of walking and cycling may lower your carbon footprint by nearly half a ton of CO2 each year. Developing synergies with other modes of transportation, such as long-distance trains, might raise this potential even more.

Environmental Significance of Cycling:

We must cut down on the number of cars out on the road to protect the environment. Because a bicycle does not need gasoline, the rider of the bicycle does not contribute to the emission of harmful pollutants or smog into the atmosphere. If you want less of an effect on the environment, one of the simplest things you can do is ride your bike a few times a week instead of driving your car. Idling isn't an issue while you're riding since you're moving. A bicycle does not need antifreeze, petrol, or other extra fluids to function correctly. Because of this, it would prevent these fluids from entering the rivers in the area and polluting the overall ecology.

The issue of noise pollution is one that often receives little attention from environmentalists. This may cause health problems in the far future down the road. Cycling, with the exception of the freehub body, does not make a rumbling sound like driving a car does. Because of this, a better night's sleep is attainable as a direct consequence of fewer cars and more bikes on the road.

People who live in the noisiest areas with vehicle noise have a mortality risk from heart disease that is 22 percent greater than those who live in the regions with the least amount of noise overall, according to a study conducted in Canada. As a direct consequence, urban areas have made reducing noise pollution a primary focus of their long-term planning efforts. The vision for Vancouver's action plan for 2020 is to transform the city into a metropolis with less polluted and cleaner air, less machine noise, and more birdsong. As shown by the fact that it was included on the agenda, there is a rising awareness of the need to reduce the amount of noise pollution. At the very least, this is the situation in a few of the most populated cities around the globe. Recently, there have been indications that London and Paris would experience less noise pollution as a result of the installation of bike infrastructure.

Pollution in the air, water, and land are responsible for around 9 million premature deaths worldwide. 13 percent of all fatalities may be attributed to premature death. The vast majority of these deaths occur in countries that are considered to be developing.

According to the current study's findings, disease and mortality rates are on the rise throughout most of the world, particularly in regions where rising rates of urbanization and automobile use negatively impact air quality.

China, which may serve as a model for other nations, is an excellent example of a country where motor vehicles are gradually displacing more traditional modes of transportation. In 2004, just under 10 million private autos were operating on Chinese roads; it was anticipated that by the year 2020, this number will have increased to more than 100 million; Rightfyly so. In the following five years, it is anticipated that the population will rise to a total of 150 million. Even though cycling is enjoying a renaissance in Europe and the United States, millions of individuals are selling or donating their bicycles in favor of motorized transportation. If we act now to reverse this trend, our communities' future climate and health will be much enhanced as a result.