2.4 Problems with Fossil Fuel Usage: Climate change
2.4 Problems with Fossil Fuel Usage: Climate change
The burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide (C02) traps the heat from the sun and causes global temperatures to rise, known as the “greenhouse effect”. These rising temperatures affect the earth's ecosystems and biodiversity, the results of which are ever more present in the media – sea levels rising, droughts, and extreme weather.
Figure 2.4.1: C02 concentrations in the atmosphere. Note the date of the invention of the steam engine is marked, which began the industrial revolution and the beginning of the age of fossil fuels.
(Source Mackay [see reference 9])
Figure 2.4.1 sourced
from Without Hot Air. Available free
online from
www.withouthotair.com
As with resource depletion there is a debate to the scale and timeframe of the problem. In this case the questions are about a) the amount of C02 in the atmosphere currently and b) what effect this is having on our climate. Some argue that the sun is causing the earth to heat up and C02 levels are increasing as a result. The reason for this debate is that climate science is an extremely complicated field, and with so many contributing factors it is impossible to get exact links between all the parameters to prove exactly what is going on.
http://www-g.eng.cam.ac.uk/impee/?section=topics&topic=ClimateChange&page=slideshow