It's great but ruining the world

I had to think hard when I saw the topic details of this current edition of Hive Learners weekly featured contents and I finally decided to check other people's entries just to get an idea of what to write about and I did. Many people pointed out inventions that are potentially causing harm to the world and indeed when you think about them, you will realize the potential danger they pose but I also believe that for you to say that something has negative effects, there must be undeniable proof of it, so that's why I decided to talk about...

Mechanical machines and crude oil

When I say mechanical machines, I'm talking about those that have a combustion engine (using any fuel source such as petrol, diesel, and other petroleum products) and give out fumes that mostly contain carbon dioxide. One very popular example is cars, and another popular one especially in a country like Nigeria is generator sets.

The invention of the combustion engine has led to great strides in civilization advancement and we can say it's one of the major bedrock of where we are today. Nobody can deny the importance of these machines today in terms of transportation, manufacturing, production, and communication technology. Most vehicles we have today uses combustion engine and make use of petrol which helps us to transport people and goods from one place to another.

Also, it indirectly affects the economy of a country. What do I mean? Take Nigeria for example, we get most of our foreign exchange from the export of crude oil which is majorly used in combustion engines. Alright, we have seen how important those 2 things are and the benefits that come with them, so how are they destroying the world? Well, I did mention it early and that is the fumes that come from these machines.

As I said earlier, those fumes contain carbon dioxide which we all know is a poisonous gas that contributes greatly to global warming and climate change. The Earth's balance has been seriously affected over the years and we can see this in rising temperatures, extreme weather conditions, melting of the polar ice, and other environmental changes. Take for example in Nigeria, we used to have distinct rainy and dry seasons but these days, it is no longer so.

The carbon dioxide from the fumes also contributes to the destruction of the ozone layer. For those that have forgotten, the ozone layer protects us from the direct ultraviolet rays from the sun, can you imagine what will happen if the ozone layer gets destroyed? You might think; "maybe the sun will get hotter or something, and so what?" It's not about the sub getting hotter but about the direct ultraviolet rays which can cause skin cancer.

Aside from those climatic effects I have mentioned, we also have the problem of air pollution. Because of the constant release of fumes into the atmosphere from industries and vehicles, the quality of air in cities is very poor and this time I'm not only talking about the carbon dioxide in these fumes but we also have Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides which can cause respiratory problems and other health complications.

We are not just stopping with air pollution, there's also water pollution as well in the sense that while trying to extract crude oil from the sea, oil spillage occasionally occur which has a very devastating effect on the water body. Some water bodies have been rendered dead because of this problem and people can no longer go fishing or use the water for domestic activities. I could go on and on about how mechanical machines and crude oil are destroying the planet but I will just wrap it up here.

Conclusion

There are a couple of benefits that come with combustion engine types of machines and crude oil but there are also a lot of negative effects that are killing the world. Unfortunately, I can't do anything about it seeing as most people have come to rely on and accepted them. I can't just say I will stop entering motor vehicles as a sign that I'm against the negative effects, won't I have to enter one when I need to travel to a far place?

Governments and individuals have already seen this problem and that's why they are shifting to environmentally friendly and cleaner and renewable energy sources such as solar, electrical and others but it will take a very long time before these solutions are used on a large scale. How many electric cars are even in Nigeria? The majority of citizens still use regular old petrol-powered vehicles and for now, I have no choice but to join them as well.

Thanks for reading

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