Fossil Fuels And Their Impact On The Environment

“Pollution is the biggest drawback to burning fossil fuels.” (Fossil Fuel Power pg. 22). Smog, acid rain, and unhealthy chemicals are all effects from fossil fuels and can be quite detrimental to the environment. “Ninety percent of the energy used in the United States comes from fossil fuels” (Energy Crisis the future of fossil fuels pg. 12). This arises questions concerning global warming. Chemical gasses trapped in a confined space (as in the earth) cause global warming. Fossil fuels will certainly exacerbate this theory.

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.

The burning of gasoline by automobiles releases carbon dioxide and other types of air pollution

With the supply of fossil fuels steadily declining, gas and oil is becoming harder to harvest which means it is getting more expensive. Fossil fuels take millions of years to be naturally produced, yet each person burns gallons of gas per day (Maehlum par. 5). Though fossil fuels are produced naturally, when burned they release nitrogen oxides gases into the atmosphere, which contributes to the formation of smog and acid rain. According to the EPA, major sources of these nitrogen oxide emissions come from cars and trucks, coal-fire powered plants, large industrial operations, and ships and airplanes (EPA par 3). By reducing the number of gas powered cars on the road, we can reduce the amount of harmful chemicals we are releasing into our atmosphere.

When fossil fuels are burnt, the c02 is released into the atmosphere rapidly, and the c02 cycle doesn’t have enough time to get the c02 out of the atmosphere. This c02 traps the heat from coming out of the atmosphere and creates global warming. Global warming is serious because it melts the ice cap, removes habitas, raises sea levels and many other negative effects. A good way to stop this environmental hazard is to use green energy. Instead of burning coal and natural gas, we can use more wind turbines, hydro-electric dams and other green electricity options. We also need to research solar panels more, so we can make them more efficiant. If we start to do this, the c02 outtake would be significantly decreased and the world will be a better place to live

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

Everyday in U.S., immense amount of fossil fuel is burned. Fossil fuels are fuel formed by natural processes, such as decomposition of buried dead organisms. Fossil fuel release carbon dioxide when they are burned which adds to the greenhouse effect and increases global warming. The way we can help the environment and reduce the amount of carbon dioxide is by replaying fossil fuels with solar and wind sources for electric power generations in the U.S.

These resources are used in almost all aspects of our lives, they however pose many risks and have a negative impact on our environment. The combustion of coal creates a variety of environmental problems. Gasses such as nitrogen oxide, sulfur oxide, and carbon dioxide are emitted from coal power plants and into the air and soil (Christensen, 490). These emissions are potent greenhouse gasses that erode Earth 's protective ozone layer and are a contributing factor to climate change (EPA). The Environmental Protection Agency also states, “A warming climate will bring changes that can affect our water supplies, agriculture, power and

Burning fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas to generate energy has the greatest effect on the atmosphere than any other human activities (Wright, L. J., 2006). Coal is especially damaging to the atmosphere and releases large volumes of carbon dioxide for every unit of energy produces. We should try to employ alternative energy sources such as wind power, biodiesel that does not release a lot of gases to the atmosphere.

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).

The first issue with fossil fuels is that they are finite resource, will not exist for ever and we need a solution for it before it is too late. They cause a lot of pollution and are the main source of CO2 in the atmosphere and other emissions. With fossil fuels come dangerous disasters in nature such as oil spills or other things that destroy the environment. Before we can solve these issues and find permanent solutions we need to find out what fossil fuels are, what a hydrocarbon is and how fossil fuels are hydrocarbons.

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.

Greenhouse gases come from such mainstays of modern life as electrical power plants, automobiles, and heavy industry. Growing consumption of fuel by less efficient cars and light trucks suggests that motor vehicles may soon overtake industry as the largest source of gases suspected of causing global warming by effectively creating a greenhouse around the Earth. Many people do not want to decrease their standard of living by reducing their consumption of fossil fuels. These people do not realize that if they reduce their consumption, there will be a reduction in the amount of greenhouse gases. If this does not happen and global warming continues, the long-term effects may be catastrophic.

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