Automobiles are to blame for a large amount of pollution on this planet. Passenger cars are responsible for twelve percent of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe and up to fifty percent in some car-intensive areas in the United States. Greenhouse gas is slowly chipping away at Earths ozone layer and if the ozone layer went away human life itself will soon start to go away. So it will probably be smart to limit car usage in every continent and major inustrialized areas so we can help stop the the destruction of the ozone. Or at the very least slow it down so generations to come have a stable environment to live in rather than wearing some sort of gas mask or philter over their face to breathe, like Beijing, Chinas population has to. The countries who are taking advantage of limiting car usage are being smart because it would be an advantage to help stop the slow but inevitable destruction of our Earth.

Several different areas around the world are occasionally taking place in a ban against car usage that last a few days or so depending on the country and the state at which it is in. An example of this event is in Paris, they had reached a near-record of polluting smog that could have rivaled the smog of Beijing, China. On a Monday motorists with even numbered license plate were ordered to leave their cars at home or suffer a fine. The same would apply to odd-numbered plates the following day. The smog had cleared enough that Monday for the ruling French party to rescind the ban for odd-numbered plates on tuesday. Even though typically Paris has more smog than other European capitals, that week it had been a little more polluted than normal. Since they took the action of enforcing a ban it helped them control the pollution and they found out the advantage of limiting car usage.

Another example of a country using this advantage over pollution is Bogota, Columbia. Millions of Columbians hiked, biked, skated, or took buses to work during a car-free day. The goal was to promote alternative transportation and reduce smog any violaters were faced with a fine. The day without cars was part of an improvement campaign that began in Bogota in the mid-1900s. So far it has seen the construction of 118 miles of bicycle paths, the most in any Latin American city. Parks and sports centers also have bloomed throughout the city; old worn out sidewalks have been replaced with smooth sidewalks; and many new restaurants and upscale shopping districts have cropped up. The no car day is a good opportunity to take away stress and lower air pollution. All this occured since the city of Bogota, Columbia took advantage of limiting car usage and wanting to take action against the growing pollution epidemic.

Auto mobiles are still to blame for the large amount of pollution on this planent, but if more countries were to limit car usage then the rising pollution infection that has plagued our planet would slowly cease to endanger our world. Many countries have already started to take advantage of limiting car usage and decreasing the pollutuion level in their home environment like in Bogota, Columbia. The car free day that Bogota has started, is set to spread to other countries so they too can take advantage of limiting car usage and saving the planet. Therefore the countries who are taking action against pollution are being examples to the other countries in the hope of rubbing off their intentions and spreading this idea of limiting automobiles and lowering the pollution levels to save the planet.