The capability to yoke energy sources and put them toward dynamic use has engaged a vital role in economic development globally. The industrial revolution in Europe was motivated in share by the usage of coal to power steam engines for water and rail transportation, to simplify iron casting, and to power looms and other industrial gear (Michael Roberts, 67). Prolonged use of effortlessly available oil aided to fuel nonstop expansion in the twentieth century. Agricultural assembly was converted by the use of motor-powered farm gear and petroleum-based fertilizers and pesticides. Trucks, airplanes and cars powered by oil products transformed the transportation of goods and people. Electricity, mainly powered by coal and to a smaller degree oil and natural gas, funded to the additional automation of engineering and made possible the expansion of abundant electricity-powered technologies (Michael Roberts, 75).
Although fossil fuels have aided incentive economic development, the fast consumption of fossil fuels has also added to environmental damage, and could end up with higher prices in the future. The drilling, mining and transportation of fossil fuels can lead to the elimination of mountaintops, the pollution of ground water with methane, and oil spills that plunder beaches and oceans. The burning of fossil fuels can release chemicals that add to acid rain, smog and mercury contamination. These instantaneous environmental costs also go along with two prominent worries about
The U.S obtains more than 84% of its energy from fossil fuels including oil, coal and natural gas. This is because people rely on it to heat their homes, power industries, run vehicles, manufacturing, and provision of electricity. It is apparent that the country’s transportation industry highly depends on conventional petroleum oil, which is responsible for global warming, thus threatening economic opulence and national security. Apart from that, increasing consumption of fossil fuels have elevated health problems in the state, destroyed wild places, and polluted the environment. After conducting Environmental Impact Assessment, projections showed that the world energy consumption would increase by more than 56% between 2010 and 2040. However, fossil fuels will cater for more than 80% of the total energy used in 2040. Sadly, it will be a trajectory to alter the world’s climate, as well as, weaken the global security environment. Importantly, the rate at which the US relies on fossil fuels needs to reduce since it has adverse effects on the planet’s supplies. The society needs to realize that fossil fuels are nonrenewable, thus taking millions of years to form (Huebner, 2003). Notably, the country can reduce dependency on fossil fuels by practicing energy conservation and efficiency,
Fossil fuels have been used in the United States of America for hundreds of years as a source of energy to power machinery and to do a lot of work more efficiently. If they had not been easily monetized, they would not be so important to the United States’ economy as they are now, but does their effectiveness as an energy source outweigh the damaging effects that burning fossil fuels has on the world? Texas alone emits 641 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, which is not only a massive amount, but also doubles the amount produced by California, the second largest carbon producer in the country (Magill, “Texas, California Lead Nation in Carbon Emissions”). Carbon dioxide is the emission of humans breathing as well, so this may not seem so important at first, but the production of it not only by people, but by industrial factories, transportation, and electricity production, which all can use the combustion of fossil fuels, is poisonous to life on Earth and is slowly heating up the planet. The rising levels of heat due to fossil fuel emissions can have devastating effects on the environment and often leads to the kinds of extreme weather situations that were previously mentioned.
Some nitrous oxides sulfur oxides lead to acid rain. It can have harmful effects on plants, animals and buildings. Oil spill in Gulf of Mexico this year caused ecological disaster. “An explosion occurred on the semi-submersible offshore drilling rig Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 rig workers and injuring 17 others. On April 24, it was found that the wellhead was damaged and was leaking oil into the Gulf. This significant spill poses a serious threat to wildlife, affecting as many as 400 species along the coastal areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.” (Curry L. Hagerty, 2010) The number of fossil fuels is limited. Even they are enough now. Are they still enough in 50 years? So it is a time for our human beings to decide how to deal with the relationship with fossil fuels.
We all know that fossil fuels and harsh burning of chemicals are bad for our environment. Through the cause of global warming and the depletement of the atmosphere it is apparent. From the start of coal burning all the way through nuclear
Repercussions of burning oil have arisen more progressively. The debatable topic of global warming holds burning fossil fuels responsible for higher temperatures in colder climates. An article by World Book explains why oil is so harmful towards the environment. As more cars are produced more pollutants are released into the atmosphere, those pollutants cause smog in larger manufacturing oriented cities as well as, acid rain. Factories, burning oil, dispose of the remaining chemicals into bodies of water rendering them unsafe to drink for both humans and animals alike (Hunt par. 1). Another article produced through World Book describes the
` The continuous use of fossil fuels is leading the Earth on a path to destruction. Generations of advancement and technological innovation being brought down to rubble. Natural disasters wreaking havoc on innocent people across the world. Temperatures soaring above 125℉ globally. These are the results of the excessive use of fossil fuels. A chief concern in the 21st century is global warming and climate change, and the continued use of fossil fuels for the technology and daily lives of humans is key to blame. Decades ago, these problems were much more daunting and seemingly unsolvable than they are today, with the use of alternative energy sources and new
It is a known fact that fossil fuels are detrimental to the environment. The gases made from extracting and producing the fossil fuels insulate the planet, which can potentially lead to catastrophic
Being such a necessary and overused resource makes it a hotly contested subject and global issue. The United States is one of the biggest importers and users of oil in the world, which makes our need of it a major influence on several global markets. Our heavy reliance on dirty fuels, as well as every other industrialized country in the world, will lead to massive effects on the climate of our Earth. This in addition, has led to violence and war, particularly in the Middle East, over the ownership and distribution of oil and other energy resources, which in the end only serves to profit big oil industries. This problem will not stop or slow down, as the demand for energy will only increase as the world’s population and global economy continues to expand. For mainly these reasons, which will be handled more in-depth throughout this paper, the need for clean alternative energy is paramount and must be addressed within the foreseeable future should we otherwise suffer the consequences.
The environment is negatively affected be the burning of fossil fuels. The affects of the gases contribute to global warming, along with acid rain and polluted air. This pollution cuts short an estimated 30,000 American lives according to the Clean Air Task Force (Rich). The United States must stop using fossil fuels because the gases produce harm the environment we live causing harm to come all the citizens. “The future of energy production will
By the late 1800s, the world’s first coal powered electric generator was made, the world’s first electric light was used, and the world’s first hydroelectric plant was utilized. A few years later a new type of fuel was becoming well-known, petroleum. Initially it had been an inconvenience for polluting water but by the end of the century oil, turned into gasoline, powered up engines. With the spread of economical gas cars and electricity, society’s energy use rapidly increased. Power plants became massive and power lines stretched out from hundreds of miles between cities, even during The Great Depression. After World War II, the use of energy was quickly doubling every 10 years and it concerned no one.
Fossil fuels are an important part of life. When you turn on the lights, watch TV, or take a shower, the electricity that you are using is being generated by fossil fuels. The three types of fossil fuels are coal, crude oil, and natural gas. They all take millions of years to form, so they are considered to be “non-renewable”- eventually, the fossil fuels will all be used up. One dangerous biological effect of using fossil fuels is ocean acidification. Extracting and transporting fossil fuels can also be very dangerous. Environmentally damaging accidents such as groundwater contamination, land subsidence, and oil spills occur frequently. Global warming is another possible environmental effect. Fossil fuels have a crucial role in modern
In today’s society fossil fuels are the primary source of energy for most of the industrialized world. Utilizing fossil fuels has been very important to the industrialization development throughout the world. Industrialization in many parts of the world, energy has been needed at a much higher density then before and fossil fuels have fulfilled that need. Coal, gas, and oil are the three major sources of fossil fuels in the world. Despite other means of energy such as wind power, hydroelectric power etc., fossil fuels are still the main source of energy across the continent. Fossils fuels are critical to the function of society. “Fossil fuels (oil, coal, and natural gas) are the dominant source of energy today and will be for decades to come.” (Everett, B. October).
These fossil fuels serve to be very beneficial for our use and need for energy. The accessibility of these energy sources are relatively abundant in our environment. These sources of energy, specifically crude oil for example, are found in abundance underground in certain areas. For example, while there is not huge oil sources underground everywhere, there are large rigs in certain areas of the world that supply an astronomical amount of crude oil for our use. Places such as Saudi Arabia and Canada have been the 2 largest providers of non-renewable oil for the US. Similarly, there are many places in the US that non-renewable resources like oil and coal have been tapped into. These oil rigs and coal mines are being used at a rate that some worry is not sustainable, or responsible. The oil rigs, in particular, produce a real economic boom as well as the benefit to fulfill our energy needs. For example, back when gasoline was 4 dollars a gallon, it
Fossil fuels are essential to life on earth as we know it today. Our world would certainly be much different if it weren’t for such seemingly simple things such as coal, oil, and natural gas. These basic elements of life on earth may not seem like a major concern to some people until we put into perspective how they have shaped our world today. Civilizations have been built, economies have risen and crumbled, and even wars have been fought over these precious fossil fuels. However, these fossil fuels serve us in ways we may never truly appreciate, as long as we use them as recklessly as we do now. The major entity about fossil fuels is concerning their longevity and permanence in our world, and we all know, they will be around forever.
The world currently functions through the use of fossil fuels. However, fossil fuels possess two significant disadvantages. Fossil fuels harm the global environment because they enhance the greenhouse effect by releasing carbon dioxide, and they release other harmful