Ever since the Industrial Revolution occurred in the mid-1700’s and through the 1800’s, our home planet has suffered through the use of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels primarily consist of coal, oil, and natural gas which formed from dead plants and animals that died several million years ago. Because of the Industrial Revolution and the rise of technology, we are using our naturally occurring fuels considerably faster than they are being replaced. These fuels also damage our planet and its inhabitants and are depleting at an alarming rate. In order to ensure the longevity of our planet and its occupants, we must begin implementing the use of cleaner, alternative forms of energy, and slowly decreasing the use of the non-renewable fossil fuels. We use fossil fuels because they are readily available and easy to use, although they will not be readily available forever. Coal, oil and natural gas are all non-renewable resources, which means there is a finite supply of these energy sources. In 2014, BP stated that we only have 53.3 years of oil left to use at the rate that it is currently being used (“The World Has 53.3 Years of Oil Left” 1). This doesn’t mean that we will run out of oil in 53 years, as new sources are still being discovered. Nonetheless, there are plenty of alternative energy sources such as water, solar, wind, and nuclear power that could be taken advantage of and used alongside of fossil fuels in order to lengthen the amount of time that fossil fuels could be put
Throughout the entire modern age, mankind has used fossil fuels to meet its energy requirements. Coal, oil and natural gas have lit homes and powered machinery for centuries, driving civilization forward. But as human
Coal and natural gas are the United States’ main fossil fuels used as energy sources. These fossil fuels both contain mixtures of hydrocarbons, which is a chemical compound of carbon and hydrogen (Olah, 2005). Currently, fossil fuels provide eighty-five percent of commercial energy, such as businesses, worldwide and this eighty-five percent does not even account for residential use. Imagine if the residential energy use was accounted for in that eighty-five percent (Davison, 2007). According to Goodell (2006), “Between 1950 and 2000, the world population increased by 140 percent and fossil fuel consumption increased by 400 percent. By 2030, the world’s demand for energy is expected to more than double,” with most of the electricity
` 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
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,
In the year 2013, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the United States consumed a staggering 6.89 billion barrels of oil (U.S.EIA). Which in fact, equates to 18.89 million barrels being consumed every single day. That is a vast amount of petroleum products being consumed on a daily national level. If the calculation is made, based on a barrel equaling forty two gallons, it would come out to 289,583,700,000 gallons per year, or 793,380,000 gallons per day. The amount is incredible, almost unbelievable. If the United States continues its use of oil at this rate, the supply will only last another forty years. With more and more cars being on the road and operating machinery performing tasks, the supply of petroleum will not be able to meet demand forever. As our use of fossil fuels increases, so does our need for a new source of renewable energy.
How does the rising use of fossil fuels impact the earth? The simple answer is that the earth’s temperature rises, otherwise known as global warming. Global warming then devolves into climate change. Global warming has been “proceeding at a rate that is unprecedented over decades to millennia” (“Climate Change Evidence: How Do We Know?”) because of the world’s increasing reliance on fossil fuels. World-wide natural disasters, such as Hurricane Harvey, may be correlated to an increased risk in extreme weather events due to climate change. There has been efforts to curb climate change, such as pieces of legislation like the Paris Climate Accord, but beliefs of individual leaders such as Donald Trump, who “claims to think that links between carbon emissions and climate change are ‘a hoax’” (Steadman 19), has halted the fulfillment of such agreements between states. If there is not effective efforts to slow the emission rate, the earth will face devastating consequences. Therefore, the leaders of countries across the world must work together to develop a solution to slow climate change, or else the future will be disastrous.
Over the past several years, scientists have researched the impact fossil fuels currently have on our world today. These sources of energy have an irreversible and devastating consequence on our environment. Fossil fuels are disliked due to being non-renewable and unsustainable. As more technological advancements have occurred, more efforts have arisen related to replacing fossil fuels with renewable sources of energy. Due to the integration of existing technology the public has become reluctant to adopt new energy technologies. Renewable energy brings many desirable health, environmental, and economic benefits. These renewable methods may ultimately provide a brighter future for generations to come.
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.
The United States uses fossil fuels for 81 percent of its the total energy. It is estimated that the world will use all of the fossil fuels sometime in the next 50-100 years. Either we need to find a way of slowing down the use of fossil fuels or we need to convert to a new source of energy. Renewable energy is the most viable option because we cannot run out of renewable energy. The convergence of Las Vegas and Google are examples of why, as a country, we need to use more renewable energy.
The beginning of the industrial revolution in the eighteenth century led to an exponential increase in our demand for energy to satisfy the growing needs of manufacturing, transport, production of raw materials, healthcare, and agriculture. Simple tasks are taken for granted such as “powering-up” the plethora of devices and gadgets that we “cannot live without” – such as our smart phones and computers. Whilst all of these things are central to our very existence on the planet, our increased dependence on energy has essentially been met to date by the burning of non-renewable fossil fuels, such as brown and black coal.
In this paper, we focus on using fossil fuels causing climate change. Fossil fuels are fuels formed natural resources such as coal, petroleum and natural gas, which are the most widely used fuel and industrial chemicals in the world. Since industrial revolution, fossil fuels bring a very great quantity convenience and technological products. So we can use cars, planes and all modern products. But fossil fuels cause climate change at the same time. Greenhouse gas, nitrous oxides and a great deal of harmful gas which are from fossil fuels are causing serious environmental problems. Therefore we need to be concerned about the problems caused by fossil fuels and the solutions.
Fossil fuels will run out in the world with time, these fuels take millions of years to form, the supply simply cannot meet the demands of the world forever. According to the Colorado River Commission of Nevada, the amount of petroleum left in the world is 2,686 billion barrels left, annually, the world uses 27 billion barrels (2002). Natural gas has 14,006 billion left and the world uses 84 billion barrels a year (The Colorado River Commission of Nevada, 2002). Coal has 1,089 billion barrels left with 5 billion used a year (The Colorado River Commission of Nevada, 2002). This may seem like a lot of fossil fuels, but with the population continuing to grow, this is not a very large quantity. As stated by the Colorado River Commission of Nevada, “All together the fossil fuel resources is estimated to be gone between 2050 and 2075” (2002). It is certain that fossil fuels are limited, and will eventually run dry. This may not seem to
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.
Good afternoon, Citizen of Oregon. It is the year 2062 and your state, the nation, and the entire planet face catastrophe. The analysts and hippies were right – not only is human induced climate change in full effect, it is bringing life on Earth as we know it to an end. Yes, you should have listened to the environmental scientists (and the “hippies”) about the detrimental impacts of fossil fuel consumption, but you did not. Now you are here: the continued use of fossil fuels has released ridiculous amounts of greenhouse gasses into the air. Just as you were warned, the ice caps melt, oceans levels continue to rise, the weather grows more extreme, and changes in all of Earth’s ecosystems persist – water reservoirs deplete, countless animals go extinct, and the mass migration of humans has begun. Worse yet, unannounced positive feedback loops accelerate the process even further. Your once beloved Portland, Oregon is now home to hundreds-of-thousands of refugees – and this is the least of your problems.
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).