AUTO TRANSPORTATION - AN IMPORTANT FACTOR IN POLLUATION GROWTH AND IN ATMOSPHERIC CHANGES

ABSTRACT

This paper addresses an analysis on atmospheric pollution done by road vehicles. The substance emitted by vehicles that are present in the air, depending on their quantity and concentration, affects our health, generates discomfort and alters the environment. Global warming, or the greenhouse effect, since a certain period of time, is increasing from year to year. The recent increasing in registrations of vehicles which work on conventional fuels from the past few years (diesel oil, petrol) have led to a worrisome increase in the amount of substances that have a greenhouse effect: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). The emissions of sulphur dioxide (SO2) and of nitric oxides from the air (NOx) that the Diesel engines emit are the main causes of acid rain. The import and registrations of vehicles used in Romania have far exceeded the registrations of new cars and thus the degree of atmospheric pollution is increased. In urban areas the level of pollution is higher due to high vehicle density; the impact of emissions varies according to local conditions. One of the causes of atmospheric changes is the allowance for these vehicles to be put into circulation without limiting the number of registrations of old vehicles with pollution standards EURO 2, EURO 3, EURO 4.

Keywords: global warming, greenhouse effect, acid rain, old vehicles