By Sara Kaplaniak
Pretend you are on a game show and given a choice between two doors. Door No. 1 leads into a room filled with a toxic cocktail of soot, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, benzene, acetaldehyde and other pollutants.
Door No. 2 leads into a room full of fresh, clean air.
Which room would you choose?
Believe it or not, we choose Door No. 1 every day by living in a society that is dependent on motor vehicles. While we can’t always see or smell them, we’re breathing in pollutants emitted by the combustion engines of cars, trucks, buses and other modes of transportation. As a result, many of us suffer from asthma and other breathing and cardiovascular problems – and even certain cancers.
Pollution from motor vehicles also does a number on the natural environment in the way of greenhouse gas emissions that many believe cause climate change. In fact, according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency, carbon emissions reached a record high last year – up 5 percent from the previous record in 2008 – indicating that the world is closer to a level of dangerous emissions not expected to be reached until 2020.
According to The Conservation Fund, this prediction plays out in the Chesapeake Bay where the sea is likely to rise between 1.3 feet to 5.2 feet by the end of the century. In response, the fund and a consortium of partners produced a state-of-the-art map and website aimed at visualizing climate change scenarios that might play out around the Bay in future years.
This deeper study aims to inform strategies to address rising water levels, increased precipitation, extreme weather and land subsidence (already recorded around the Chesapeake Bay) that left unabated, promise to diminish the region’s tidal marshes faster than they can migrate to higher ground. In the absence of this habitat – a natural water filter and shoreline buffer – waterfowl, blue crabs, fish and other species face a reality to which they may not be able to adapt.
With attention from elected officials, independent commissions, lawmakers, environmental groups, scientists and activists, climate change represents a daunting issue for average citizens looking for a way to make a difference. In reality, making a big difference can be as easy as switching from four wheels to two. Bicycle wheels, that is.
In addition to being pollution-free, bicycle riding offers health benefits that accompany exercise, including weight loss, stronger muscles and an increased sense of well-being. No fuel is needed; although adequate nutrition and hydration help muscles pedal faster. Riding a bicycle for even one errand a day can help reduce harmful emissions entering the atmosphere.
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That’s because in places like Carlisle, Pa.; Arlington, Va.; and Silver Spring and Baltimore in Maryland, municipalities are reducing vehicle lanes to calm traffic and improve safety while making room for more active modes of transportation like bicycling or walking.
Road diets largely represent transportation initiatives aimed at creating safer, less congested roads. But they provide an added benefit for environmental and human health and a great alternative to most bicycle riders in the United States who have to share roads with 3,000-pound motor vehicles.
Giving bikes a designated space within municipalities – and even connecting paths between metropolitan areas – provides an incentive for many people to dig up their helmets and locks for a ride to the library, the coffee shop, school or even to work. Most importantly, choosing bicycles over cars – and supporting policies that follow suit – represents something everyone can do.
The reward? Fewer trips to the gas pump, a slimmer waistline and cleaner air, which means a guaranteed spot behind Door No. 2. See you there!
Sara Kaplaniak lives and writes in Pennsylvania, where she reduces, reuses and recycles along with her husband and two kids. Distributed by Bay Journal News Service.
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https://www.carrollcountytimes.com/community_times/perspectives/road-diets-point-to-an-emerging-trend/article_507c6526-c2c1-11e0-856a-001cc4c002e0.htmloldId.20110811032101467
Biking in Baltimore