Cars And City Pollution: Cause And Effect

In the game Cities: Skylines, pollution is a negative effect on the city that can cause sickness, death, and abandonment. While it's impossible to completely avoid pollution, players can keep it to a minimum by making the right policy and building choices. Cars and other vehicles contribute to noise pollution, which can be lowered by upgrading roads and using sound barriers and trees.

Cars cause noise pollution

Cars are a major source of noise pollution, which can be nearly as harmful to our health as air pollution. In *Cities: Skylines*, noise pollution is generated by loud frequencies such as wind turbines, traffic, and areas that produce too much sound.

In the game, players can decrease noise pollution by planting trees in polluted areas, upgrading roads, and using sound barriers for motorways. Placing offices will also reduce the amount of sound pollution. Buildings producing noise or ground pollution should be moved away from residential areas.

In real life, noise pollution from cars can have a significant impact on our health. Studies have shown that chronic exposure to noise can affect sleep and hearing and contribute to health problems like heart disease. The World Health Organization estimates that urban noise pollution costs "at least one million healthy life years" per year across Western Europe.

The lack of research and regulation on noise pollution, particularly from cars, is a concern. While the Noise Control Act of 1972 authorized the Environmental Protection Agency to advise states on recommended noise limits, the responsibility for setting noise caps was later shifted to the states. As a result, restrictions on roadway sound levels in the U.S. are lax.

Airports, train stations and dump yards cause pollution

In *Cities: Skylines*, pollution is a negative effect on the city that can cause sickness, death, and abandonment. It is usually generated through industrial zones, garbage, and some types of power plants. Noise pollution is even more inevitable than regular pollution, but players only need to keep it away from residential zones to keep their citizens happy.

Airports, train stations, and dump yards also cause pollution. Airports cause noise pollution, and rail yards are another source of air pollution from locomotives, transport trucks, loading and unloading equipment, and ships. The many different types of traffic and activity at rail yards and ports generate a variety of pollutants that can impact nearby communities and neighbourhoods. Residents near rail yards would also be expected to suffer asthma attacks and other respiratory and cardiac diseases at a higher rate.

To reduce pollution, players can plant trees in polluted areas, and sound barriers can be used to lower noise pollution produced by roads. Upgraded industry buildings tend to produce less pollution than the level one versions.

Ground pollution is caused by industrial buildings

In *Cities: Skylines*, pollution is a negative effect on the city that can cause sickness, death, and abandonment. While it is impossible to completely avoid pollution, the right policies and building choices can keep pollution to a minimum.

Ground pollution is generated through industrial buildings and other buildings that produce unhealthy atmospheric conditions. Upgraded industry buildings tend to produce less pollution than level one versions. Farming and forestry are two industries that do not cause pollution.

Noise pollution is generated through loud frequencies such as wind turbines, traffic, and areas that produce too much sound. An example of noise pollution is the one produced by an airport. Sound pollution produced by roads can be lowered by upgrading them; sound barriers for motorways, and trees for normal roads.

Water pollution is caused by sewage

In the game Cities: Skylines, pollution is a negative effect on the city that can cause sickness, death, and abandonment. It is usually generated through industrial zones, garbage, and some types of power plants.

Pollution can take on the form of ground pollution, water pollution, and noise pollution. Ground pollution is generated through industrial buildings and other buildings that produce unhealthy atmospheric conditions. Water pollution is generated through sewage produced by buildings and sent into the water ways. Noise pollution is generated through loud frequencies such as wind turbines, traffic, and areas that produce too much sound.

While cars are not explicitly mentioned as a cause of pollution in Cities: Skylines, traffic is listed as a source of noise pollution. Additionally, some buildings that produce pollution, such as industrial buildings, may be related to cars and transportation.

Now, turning to the topic of water pollution caused by sewage, it is a significant issue affecting rivers, oceans, and other water bodies. Sewage pollution is primarily caused by the discharge of untreated or treated wastewater into natural water sources. In the UK, for example, water companies are legally allowed to discharge untreated wastewater through sewer overflows during heavy rain, but this practice has been alarmingly routine. The continuous discharge of treated sewage is the largest source of water pollution from water companies, impacting a significant proportion of water bodies.

Sewage pollution is often referred to as a "chemical cocktail" due to the presence of various contaminants. It contains not only human waste but also agricultural runoff, plastic, and other contaminants from roads, urban developments, and landfills. This pollution has severe ecological and health consequences. It damages natural ocean ecosystems and habitats, reduces biodiversity, and impairs the ocean's ability to store carbon. Additionally, sewage pollution can cause harmful algal blooms, which starve the water of oxygen and lead to the death of aquatic species.

Waterborne illnesses caused by sewage pollution are also a significant concern. A 1998 study published in the International Journal of Epidemiology attributed one-third of reported gastroenteritis cases and two-thirds of ear infections to water pollution. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in the United States documented nearly half a million cases of waterborne illness from polluted drinking water between 1985 and 2000. Furthermore, the CDC and the National Academy of Sciences concluded that most illnesses caused by tainted seafood are rooted in human sewage.

Upgraded industry buildings produce less pollution

In the popular game Cities: Skylines, pollution is a negative effect on the city that can cause sickness, death, abandonment, and a reduction in property values. Pollution can be generated through industrial zones, garbage, power plants, and traffic.

To keep pollution to a minimum, players can also place industrial zones away from residential zones, use road decorations and highway sound barriers to keep street noise down, and stick to narrow roads in neighbourhoods. Pollution can also be decreased by planting trees in polluted areas.

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