With the United States drilling off the coast of Texas in the Gulf of Mexico, totaling the May of 2015 census of oil rigs worldwide marking 213 of them being located in the gulf. With that many rigs being in the gulf there is destined to be spills of oil and natural gas. In the time between 1969 to 2010 there were 15 oil spills in the Gulf and the neighboring waterways. On the other hand on soil rather than in the water coal mining is also becoming a larger issue than what it was back in the 1920’s. While coal is produced differently than oil is the process that uses coal to produce energy has become more and more harsh on the global environment. Coal is, “formed when dead plant matter submerged in swamp environments is subjected to the geological …show more content…
When this coal is burned it releases sulfur and other toxic air pollutants. While mining for coal is also incredibly dangerous, as is oil drilling offshore. Between the two since the year 2000, there have been over 522 deaths of oil drilling and transport, as well as miners and the office workers of those mines. As these numbers continue to climb with the years the families of these men and women who have lost their lives to these occupations will never be able to see their wives, husbands, sons, and daughters again, as the bodies of these accidents are almost never found. There are further reasons that global climate change has become a problem, including the release of greenhouse gases. A greenhouse gas is classified as “any of various gaseous compounds (such as carbon dioxide or methane) that absorb infrared radiation, trap heat in the atmosphere, and contribute to the greenhouse effect.” (Merriam Webster). Methane is a large contributor to the rise in greenhouse gases on earth with 14.4 percent of it coming from livestock, most of that livestock being cows and other bovine animals, such as the buffalo, and the …show more content…
“The Arctic reached 400 ppm in 2012. In 2013 the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii recorded more than 400 ppm. In March 2015 global averages reached this threshold, and in September 2016 the world reached a point of no-return: CO2 concentration levels are unlikely to dip below 400 ppm again” (How Do We). This carbon level is a permanent change that the people on the planet currently can only hope to counteract with incoming generations and in future lifetimes. Along with the releasing of greenhouse gases, as humans cut down and burn the world's forests for things like paper and wood there has become less and less of a carbon dioxide cutting tree population. Without the population of trees we once had on earth, we lose habitats of forest creatures but also the trees and plant life that help change Carbon Dioxide (CO2) into Oxygen (O2). WIthout this plant life may organisms would cease to exist at all, as many larger predators feed off of small herbivores that eat and sustain of the vegetation we are cutting down and burning. Humans also feed on herbivores too, such as the bovine and poultry many eat at the dinner table. As Humans sit near the top of the food chain they have noticed that they can do what they wish with creatures
Roughly 68 percent of the electricity generated in the United States of America is produced by fossil fuels. That includes petroleum, natural gases and coal. Although coal contributes around 37 percent to the factor, it is by far not the cleanest of them all. Some might argue that it is good for the economy because it is cheap and it creates jobs.. But the other side of the story portrays coal mining as a process that kills thousands of coal miners a year and that it practically destroys the environment around the mining with soot and air pollution. Mining now days is a big part of urbanization; due to how cheap the process is. There are different ways that coal mining is done. Mainly mountain top removal is done but there are many other
There is an abundance of oil underneath earth’s crust on land and in the water but getting to that oil can be proven as a challenge and a negative impact on the earth. Many of these oil reservoirs lie in federally protected land or water to minimize the negative impact on the earth. But should those restrictions be removed? Removing the restrictions can allow the US to tap into domestic reserves rather than rely on imported oil from the Middle East and Asia but tapping these reservoirs can also leave behind an impact that is harmful to this planet. “Critics oppose this move for fear that it will cause irreparable harm environmental harm. They point to the April 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico as evidence of the risks associated with offshore drilling” (SIRS).
Earth’s carbon levels have followed a natural cycle throughout the past 800,000 years where the carbon dioxide concentration varied from 180 ppm (parts per million) and 280 ppm which resulted in several changes in the environment.. In the grand scheme of Earth, these changes are miniscule and have stayed within the natural cycle. But when looking through the eyes of humans, these changes are drastic causing ice ages, draughts, and rain for years (Goldstein 6). During the last century carbon dioxides levels in the atmosphere have become significantly larger than they ever have in the past 800,000 years. Today these levels are at 390 ppm and show no signs of stopping which will cause temperatures to rise because carbon is a greenhouse gas. When a greenhouse gas, such as carbon dioxide or water vapor are present in the atmosphere, they absorb the heat that the Earth is giving off, creating a thermal blanket over Earth trapping in heat (Houghton 20).
One of the most compelling and difficult environmental problems society faces today is climate change. People do not realize how much the environment has changed for the worse in the last ten years, until they are told that the last two decades of the 20th century have been the hottest in the last 400 years, according to climate studies (Conserve Energy Future). Today, the carbon dioxide levels have reached 396.81 parts per million (ppm). “Carbon dioxide (CO2) has also increased over the last 100 years-- from about 300 ppm to 370 ppm. Interestingly, the majority of these additions have occurred in the last 50 years, when temperature increases have been the slowest” (geocraft).
The natural resource that I am writing this paper on is coal. Coal is a cheap, dirty fossil fuel which we burn to create power. Coal is the most abundant in North America and in Russia, including the area around it. China also has a fairly good amount of coal in it too. Coal, like all of the other fossil fuels is nonrenewable and will eventually run out, in the not so near future. Coal is very important to many of the countries of the world. The countries that use the most coal are China, the United States, India, Russia, and Japan. These five countries “account for 76% of total global coal use.” (World Coal Association, 2014).
Ever since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution at the end of the 18th century, fossil fuels have been used constantly, slowly changing the planet’s atmosphere. According to Mann, “the preindustrial level of CO2 was 280 parts per million (ppm)” (N. pag). He predicts that at current rates, we will reach 560 ppm by the end of the 21st century. To make matters worse, Mann states that 450 ppm is dangerous as it will cause an increase in Earth’s average temperature by 2 Celsius. He recommends taking measures to keep CO2 at less than 405 ppm (N. pag). Mann takes note that in 2013, the value managed to reach 400 ppm (N. pag). It is needless to say that the point of no return is right around the corner. Unfortunately, the affects of pollution are already felt around the world. Pollution can cause many health issues and damage several organs in the body. When people think ...
Lynas explains in his novel, Six Degrees, that Coal creates and adds, smog, acid rain and pollution into the environment. Along with harming the ecosystems, the infectious air that is being breathed in, containing smog, leads to cardiovascular affects, proving, that humans are indeed, killing themselves and the environment without even noticing. (Lynas, 365). The ultimate removal of coal
The emission of green house gasses due to human activity contributes the most in increasing global warming. Today, fossil fuels are used as a source of energy for transportation, electricity, industrial process and to increase human comfort in this era. Over the last decade humans have created mass amount of industries. These industries have been burning fossil fuels such as coal, which release carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide; carbon dioxide absorbs heat that raises the temperature of the earth. More than 80% of carbon dioxide comes from tr...
The effects of using fossil fuels are starker than their timelines. Humans release approximately two billion metric tons of pollution annually, mostly from the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas; this pollution is destroying our environment and the ozone layer. Ozone and smog damage forests, crops, and other plant life, and reduces visibility. Other pollutants have the same
Burning and mining coal for fuel is harmful to the environment, but because of how cheap and easy it is to find, many people are unwilling to give it up as a fuel source. One of the problems with coal is that they are limited and are non-renewable, so once it has been used we won’t be able to use it again. When coal gets burned, they start to release harmful, dangerous toxins such as mercury, lead and arsenic that will then escape into the air. It also releases large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. These emissions increase the greenhouse effect in the atmosphere and lead to global warming.
The commonly debated “greenhouse effect” refers to “the global average temperature increase that has been observed over the last one hundred years or more” (Spencer). President Barack Obama addressed the issue in an effort to highlight its severity, "We have to all shoulder the responsibility for keeping the planet habitable, or we’re going to suffer the consequences – together” (Leader). The earth’s increasing atmospheric and oceanic temperatures result in climate changes due to cumulative amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. As an outcome, researchers around the globe have established that the by-product of burning fossil fuels is the main culprit of the increasing temperatures. Global carbon emissions from fossil fuels have significantly increased since 1900, as shown above from a study carried out by the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center.
Humans and animals breathe out Carbon Dioxide, often referred to as the greenhouse gas, as a waste product. Plants take in this CO2 and use it to make food. This is called photosynthesis. During this process oxygen is released which is then breathed in by humans and animals. This procedure is repeated over and over and a natural balance is obtained. However this natural balance is disrupted by human activity. People of the world are putting more than 5.5 billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere every year. 75% of this is caused from the burning of fossil fuels. These fuels are burnt all the time to run factories, power plants and vehicles. The main sources of CO2 emissions are electric utilities, residential buildings, industry and transportation. The other 25% is induced by the destruction of the world's forests. The reason for this is that there are less trees and plants to take in the CO2 but there is just as many, if not more, humans and animals to breathe it out.
The burning of fossil fuels has greatly harmed our environment and is a leading cause as to why climate change has become such a threat to our way of living. In May of 2013, the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere reached 400 parts per million, an increase of more than 40 percent since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. This could cause the Arctic Ocean to be nearly ice-free during the summer by 2020(Overland and Wang, 2013).
These fuels include coal, oil products such as gasoline, and natural gas. Use of these fuels has a number of harmful health and environmental effects. According to the World Health Organization, outdoor air pollution, most of it from burning fossil fuels, especially coal kills at least 800,000 people each year and causes health problems for tens of millions of others. Technology is available to reduce such air pollution, but using it is costly and results in higher fuel
Fuels like coal, and oil that once were a fine innovation in creating energy are now rapidly deleting and one day will be gone forever; energy that won’t last is often referred to as non-renewable energy. Besides being set up to fail and become inefficient in the future, fossil fuel energy is not clean to use and poses several environmental complications. Coal, for instance is “the dirtiest of all fossil fuels. Coal combustion not only produces sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides that contribute to acid rain and snow, it generates millions of tons of particulates that cause asthma and other respiratory diseases.” As with all usage of fossil fuels, it creates enormous amounts of carbon dioxide, which contributes to greenhouse gas. Not only are fossil fuels dirty, they also pose as a security risk and unforgiving on the American wallet. (Saini)