Fossil Fuels and Climate Change

It’s widely known by now that the burning of fossil fuels is a leading contributor to the advancing climate change and has a detrimental effect on our ecosystem. But what exactly is so harmful about fossil fuels, and how do they facilitate global warming? Let’s find out!

• What are fossil fuels?
• Fossil fuels and their impact on climate change
• The dangerous effects of fossil fuels on the environment

What are fossil fuels?

Fossil fuels, which include coal, crude oil and natural gas, are non-renewable energy sources. For years now, humans have burned them to create heat, generate electricity, or power engines. Even nowadays, with the growing movement for renewable energy sources, fossil fuels still meet around 80% of the world’s energy needs. However, burning fossil fuels releases massive amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) into the atmosphere. These gases cause the main damaging effects of fossil fuels on the environment. The levels of CO2 in the atmosphere have risen by 50% since the start of the Industrial Revolution in 1750. And this rapid growth continues to be the key driver of climate change.

Fossil fuels and their impact on climate change

So why does the burning of fossil fuels increase the greenhouse effect on Earth? The greenhouse effect is created when our atmosphere traps the heat radiating from the Earth. As a result, it can’t get out and warms our planet instead. It’s precisely those gases created by burning fossil fuels that trap the heat in the atmosphere and cause the greenhouse effect in the first place. The more emissions there are, the quicker climate change will progress.

The dangerous effects of fossil fuels on the environment

It’s worth noting that fossil fuels’ environmental impact doesn’t end at increasing the greenhouse effect on the earth. On top of that, fossil fuel particulates and toxic gases – such as nitrous oxide and methane – cause the most air pollution deaths worldwide and impact the overall health of humankind. Fossil fuels also have an impact on the state of the waters. Because oceans absorb large quantities of carbon emissions, they rapidly become more acidic. At the same time, the levels of calcium carbonate (which is essential for marine organisms) fall and pose a risk to the biodiversity of the oceans.

You may also be interested in What is carbon dioxide.