CNN news 11/28 (362 words)

Are cars in cities becoming a thing of the past?

By Tiffany Ap, for CNN

Updated 0346 GMT (1146 HKT) November 27, 2015

cnn.com

(part)(CNN)Last month, Oslo became the first major city to announce ambitions to go car-free by 2019, pledging a comprehensive and permanent ban in the Norwegian capital -- but it's not the only urban hub trying to reduce their reliance on vehicles.

And the impetus to do so is stronger than ever.

On Thursday, the World Meterological Organization announced that 2015 is shaping up to be the warmest year on record since record-keeping began, and is likely to reach the symbolic milestone of 1° Celsius above the pre-Industrial era, due to a strong El Nino and human-induced global warming.

Vehicles are the number one contributor to the typical American household's greenhouse gas emissions, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It contributes 51% of the average household's emissions. Appliances came next using 26%, followed by heating and cooling 18% and waste 5%.

Highway vehicles release about 1.7 billion tons of greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere each year -- mostly in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2) -- contributing to global climate change.

Little wonder the revelation that Volkswagen, one of the largest car makers in the world, had programed some of its cars to cheat on emissions tests created such a scandal.

Car-free zones

Like Oslo, cities around the world are test-driving car-free initiatives. On September 27, Paris went car-free for a day, leading to a 40% drop in air pollution. New Delhi followed suit on October 22. One of the world's most polluted capitals, it blocked off a four-mile stretch to help their citizens get a brief breath of fresh air.

Although Hong Kong residents like to point the finger at factories across the border in Mainland China as the cause for their cough-inducing air, last year's Occupy protests, which prevented car access to the downtown business district for more than a month, saw the air quality improve noticeably. An alliance of civic groups has since submitted plans to create a pedestrian-only zone along one of the city's major arteries, with public voting on the designs next month.

挪威首都奧斯陸率先全世界簽署全面且永久的法令，宣布2019年將成為無車都市，不過他們不是唯一一個試著減少依賴汽車程度的都市。

再說這件事刻不容緩。

星期四，世界氣象組織(WMO)表示2015年是有史以來最熱的一年，由於強聖嬰年及人類活動造成的地球暖化，有可能達到比工業化之前上升攝氏共1° 的里程碑。

根據美國環保署顯示，汽車名列美國溫室氣體排放量第一，佔平均溫室氣體排放量51％，後者依序為電器26％，冷暖氣18%及垃圾5%。

汽車每年行駛公路所排放溫室氣體(CHGs)大約17億噸，這些氣體大部分為二氧化碳，造成地球氣候變遷。這也難怪被揭穿的名汽車製造廠牌福斯要對車檢報告動手腳，成為世紀醜聞。

很多像奧斯陸一樣的城市正在測試無車的可能性。9月27日，巴黎舉辦一場無車日，竟降低40%的空氣污染！全球污染最嚴重的城市之一新德里於是也在10月22日跟風，當天隔開了4哩的路，讓居民呼吸一下新鮮的空氣。像香港老是控訴中國沿海的工廠是他們的「會讓人咳嗽的空氣」來源，去年長期的佔中抗議活動讓汽車完全無法靠近市中心，明顯使空氣品質獲得好轉。下個月市民聯盟提出的市區道路行人專用區計畫也即將進行公投。

impetus (n.) 動力

alliance (n.) 盟約

pedestrian (n.) 行人

artery (n.) 動脈