Driving cars may seem like the best way to get from point A to point B, and in many ways, it is. Cars are fast, they are comfortable, and they can fit mulitple people. The auto industry is big because of these factors. Though studies show that cars, may not be the best option for the enviroment; and therefore, ourselves.

There is a city in Germany, Vauban. This city is almost completely devoid of cars. How do they do it? Well most of them ride bikes, or simply walk. If there is a distance to far for biking or walking, there is also a tram that runs through the city. The people who live in this city seem to be incredibly happy "When I had a car I was always tense. I'm much happier now"

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says Heidrum Walter, citizen of Vauban. This trend of seperation from automobiles is happening not only in europe, but everywhere in the world. The EPA is advocating "car reduced communities"  in the United States. The world is changing "All of our development since World War II has been centered on the car, and that will have to change"

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The beneifit of going car-free, goes beyond making people happier, it might even save the human race. Global warming is a major problem. Though an even bigger problem, is that most people in the US do not believe that global warming even exists. One way that scientists know that global warming is happening, is by looking in the ice of the artic. By drilling deep holes in the artic, scientists can extract tubes of ice millions of years old. Just how you can tell how old a tree is by counting its rings, you can tell how old ice is by doing the same thing. When scientists tested the amount of Co2 in a sample of ice that was formed 50 years after the industrial revolution, then compared it to the level of  Co2 in a tube of ice 50 years before the industrial revolution. They saw a remarkable increase in Co2 levels after the industrial revolution. Many people do not know, but mercury looked a lot like earth a billion or so years ago. Now mercury is a desolated wasteland, thanks to the amount of volcanos spewing Co2 into the atmosphere. A similar phenomena is happening all over the world in places like Paris and China. Paris' pollution was so bad, that they had to ban driving for a couple days "On Monday motorists with even-numbered license plates were ordered to leave their cars at home or suffer a 22-euro fine"

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In Bagota, Columbia, people take part in a car-free day in order to reduce smog. "Millions of Columbians hiked, biked, skated, or took buses to work during a car-free day yesterday"

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This is another example of people taking the initiative to give up cars, even if its only for one day.

People are finally staring to realize that cars cause pollution to the Earth. Even the president is backing the cause, which honestly might be why more people have not accepted global warming as a fact. The level of driving has decreased over the years "As of April 2013, the number of miles driven per person was nearly 9 percent below the peak and equal to where the country was in January 1995"

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It is fantastic to know that people are finally embracing science as something to learn from, and not something to fear. What we all need to realize is that, our planet will live on millions of years after we are gone. We are not saving our planet by preventing global warming, we are saving ourselves.