Cravens shows that fossil-fuels cannot be considered as a future energy source because of its baleful impact on environment and people in society. Those people who read this article would definitely disagree of using fossil -fuels for power generation. She creates a bond between herself and the audience by finding something in common. Also, despite listing several frightening facts about fossil-fuels, she conveys that America’s electricity demand is going to rise by almost 50 percent in next two decades (583). Furthermore, she adds that all energy sources, such as the wind and sun are not going to save our planet. According to Cravens, these sources of energy are either impractical or will years to make a consequential impact, and therefore cannot be found as efficient and will be unable for supply the energy demands of United States. Carvens’s sentiment greatly affects her audience to see that nuclear energy is the only environmentally considerable energy source. Also, she gets in touch with her readers through their outlook, which helps them link with what she is trying to persuade them to see. This helps strengthen her argument and makes the audience to eventually support her case about nuclear energy.
Fossil Fuels are extremely harmful to the environment, especially in the ways the fuel is obtained, such as mining or hydraulic fracturing. Coal, a commonly used fossil fuel, can be obtained by strip mining, mountaintop mining, or underground mining (“Coal Explained”). Strip mining has disastrous effects on the environment because of the destructive nature of the process, which removes all soil, rock, trees, and plants above coal deposits. The runoff from this pollutes streams and rivers nearby, which can harm aquatic life and disfigure the body of water,
Taking care of our environment is the only step we can take to ensure that humanity has a long future ahead of us. To misuse the planet further than we already have with logging, damming, and pollution means a predetermined date where the earth will eventually be unable to support life any longer. “Compared to coal, the footprint of shale gas is at least 20% greater and perhaps more than twice as great on the 20-year horizon, and is comparable over 100 years”(Black). This exemplifies the fact that even though the profits may be great, the true cost put on the environment eclipses any benefit.
Fossil fuels are considered to be natural products that are made from the remains of organisms that were once living, and is a non-renewable resource (Yvonne, Locke, 1) that has a big impact on our earth, but now people are trying to find ways to lower the earth’s carbon footprint. The fossil fuel industry is one that has been around for a very long time and is something that contributes in our everyday living, but now fossil fuel is something that is being considered precious material, and the way that we as consumers use it will have a big impact on the shape of our future country (Fossil Fuels 1). With all of this oil being collected in Canada it has a big effect on the economic spectrum as well
The world’s energy consumption continues to increase and oil satisfies about a third of this requirement. Alberta oil sands is the 3rd largest known reserve behind Venezuela and Saudi Arabia, first and second respectively. With growing global demands and that of our neighbour, America, who imports 37% of their consumption from Canadian oil, the oil sands is the logical next-step in economic development. Developing the Alberta oil deposits has its inherent risks including both environmental and the wellbeing of land creatures including humans, but it’s not the first time humankind traded the environment and wellbeing for development. Nuclear power have shown to be devastating yet we still need it because current technology in clean energy is
The advent of industrialized civilization has brought to us many remarkable feats that enhance our everyday lives. Such things as automobiles, airplanes, tractors, mainframe computers, and even relatively simple machines like lawnmowers have intertwined themselves into the everyday culture of modern day industrialized countries.. These products have provided us enormous benefits compared to the types of lives our ancestors used to live. In the eyes of some, the consequences of industrial activities that have evolved around the world will not pose any problems in the future, however as most have realized, this is not true. Contemporary production processes use fossil fuels such as
Canada’s Northern and Aboriginal communities span a vast geographic area with very different circumstances. However, they are similar in the fact that they have all depended on technologies that use fossil fuels—either diesel fuel or coal-based energy generation (Weis, 2013). A disadvantage of diesel fuel is that it is too expensive and risky for these communities. Another disadvantage of fossil fuels is that it can compromise the environment by creating pollution and also contributing to climate change. For instance, numerous diesel spills in remote communities have contaminated buildings and local soils, and have impacted the quality of local air (Weis, 2013). Fossil fuel emissions can also cause health problems for people in these communities (Government of Canada, 2010a). Therefore, using fossil fuel energy can have extensive and unpredictable economic, environmental, and social consequences.
The current global population of 7.6 billion people is expected to reach 11.2 billion in 2100 (UN DESA), and as the Earth’s population continues to grow exponentially, the topic of environmental sustainability is being debated with increased urgency. In the past few years, many large-scale environmental issues have emerged due to human activities: climate change, air and water pollution, rising sea levels, habitat loss, species extinction, and worsening natural disasters are all becoming more and more prevalent. But perhaps our most immediate concern should be whether or not we will be able to continue feeding this ever-increasing population.
Coal is a hard, black colored rock-like substance. It is made up of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and varying amount of sulphur. Coal was form as decomposition took place in the absence of oxygen and much of the hydrogen content of the matter was eroded away, leaving a material rich in carbon. The material was compressed over the years by sand and dirt, leaving the form of a carbon known as coal. The different types of coals are Anthracite, bituminous, lignite, peat, coke, and charcoal. Coal is mined out of the ground and used to produce energy. However, they are many deaths, injuries, and sickness involved in mining coal.
Oil Drilling has many effects on the environment from the air we breathe to the oceans that inhabit many species. While one of the outcomes of oil drilling is money, it is forgotten that money won’t help repair all of the damage that is done to mother nature. Not only does the outcome of drilling for fossil fuels affect the oceans, rainforest, etc. it also has an effect on local business’ and the health of humans. If people want change, they need to be the
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.
In our days, mining for resources is inevitable. The resources we need are valuable in everyday life. Such resources mined up are coal, copper, gold, silver, and sand. However, mining poses environmental risks that can degrade the quality of soil and water, which can end up effecting us humans if not taken care of and many of the damages are irreversible once they have occurred.
The mining industry has seen an explosive growth from the past few decades. It has played an important role in economic growth, infrastructure development and a raise in the living standard of the whole world. According to the Australian National Accounting System, the mining sector has made contributions of 9.8% GDP growth to the Australian economy between 2008 to 2009 (Australia Bureau of Statistics, 2012). However, the mining industry has caused many environmental issues such as adverse effect to air, land and water quality and continues to affect global environment as a whole. According to the World Health Organization, it evaluated that 25% of worldwide death are directly associated with environmental pollution (Blacksmith Institute, n.d). This essay will outline the environmental issue raised by the mining industry with pinpoint focus on the effects to air, water and land. It will also provide strategies for mining companies to improve the environmental conditions.