Sure, cars are a reality of modern life, but we might not think about how drastically we’ve changed our environment in order to accommodate them.
Sure, cars are a reality of modern life, but we might not think about how drastically we’ve changed our environment in order to accommodate them. For instance, more than 40 million miles (64 million kilometers) of roads snake across the Earth’s surface, says the University of Washington's civil and environmental engineering department. That number becomes even more impressive when you consider the fact that each mile (1.6 kilometers) of a one-lane highway requires between 7,000 and 12,000 tons (6,350 and 10,886 metric tons) of material to build and maintain, according to the engineering department. That same stretch of highway also generates 2,500 tons (2,260 metric tons) of waste, according to the department. Although engineers go to great lengths to lessen the impact, building roads also damages the environment by disrupting sensitive ecosystems.