ECOSYSTEM TOXIC THREAT RISK ASSESSMENT - Essay Example

Transport can be the moving of people from one place to the next or the movement of goods and other items such as raw materials from their sources to the manufacturing site. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), vehicle exhaust fumes have been confirmed to contain carcinogens; a statement that is further confirmed by the World health Organization (WHO) which said that the fumes expelled by diesel vehicles contain a harmful amount of carcinogens that may harm people who take them in through breathing.

The National Institute of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) back up this information by confirmation of the information stated above (Thakur and Haru 64). From the website Answers.com, the toll of exhaust fumes to the environment is high since they affect a wide range of the components of the environment from human beings, animals and the environment in general. With components such as lead and sulfur emissions, there are many detrimental effects of exhaust fumes to the environment (Monosson 44).

From the class notes and the course being undertaken, it has been proven that vehicle exhaust emissions form a large part of the green house gases that are responsible for the increase in the temperature of the earth in what is called global warming. While there is information from many sources against the high amounts of vehicle exhaust gases and fumes and their contribution to global warming in general, the website eHow.com has an argument that depicts vehicle fumes as only having little effect on the environment compared to the other sources of pollution like industries.

The author of this article argues that it is not right to put blame on vehicle exhaust fumes as the main cause of global warming when it is this area that had had the most improvement in terms of eliminating the negative impacts to the environment (Barrow 71). It is thus a great topic to choose upon given that is has a lot of information and topics for discussion. Section Two: Vulnerability of the Environment to Vehicle Fumes The impact of vehicle exhaust fumes is majorly chronic in its impact on the environment.

Since the impact of many polluting elements is chronic to the environment, those of exhaust fumes follow the same path and have the same impact. This is due to the reason that it takes some time for the chemical elements in the fumes, which are mostly little in amount, to accumulate to harmful levels and thus affect the environment (Jones 86). The threat from vehicle exhaust fumes is also systemic (ecosystem) in nature given the fact that it affects the environment as a whole. The elements released by vehicles and the gases that accompany them add up to cause not only diseases in animals and human beings but also cause global warming that affects the whole ecosystem (Gupta 45).

No specific species is targeted by the negative effects of these chemicals since they affect all the living species from plants to animals in equal measure. Section Three: Risk Assessment The risk level from exhaust fumes is very real given that each day; a very large amount of fumes is released by vehicles all over the world. The number of vehicles owned especially by private individuals increases every single day given that more and more people are affording to buy vehicles for their personal use and other purposes.

Even with efforts that are