The burning of fossil fuels refers to the burning of oil, natural gas, and coal to generate energy. We use this energy to generate electricity, and to power transportation (for example, cars and planes) and industrial processes. Ever since the invention of the first coal-fired steam engines of the 1700s, our burning of fossil fuels has steadily increased. Across the globe each year we now burn over 4,000 times the amount of fossils fuels burnt during 1776. The effects of the burning of fossil fuels, especially carbon dioxide, are having far-reaching effects on our climate and ecosystems. The burning of fossil fuels is the primary cause of current climate change, altering the Earth’s ecosystems and causing human and environmental health problems. Fossil fuels form over millions of years from the burial of photosynthetic organisms, including plants on land (which primarily form coal) and plankton in the oceans (which primarily form oil and natural gas). To grow these organisms removed carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and the ocean, and their burial inhibited the movement of that carbon through the carbon cycle. The burning of this fossil material returns this carbon back into atmosphere as carbon dioxide, at a rate that is hundreds to thousands of times faster than it took to bury, and much faster than can be removed by the carbon cycle. Thus, the carbon dioxide released from the burning of fossil fuels accumulates in the atmosphere, some of which then dissolves in the ocean causing ocean acidification. The burning of fossil fuels affects the Earth system in a variety of ways. Some of these ways include:
Can you think of additional cause and effect relationships between the burning of fossil fuels and other parts of the Earth system? Visit the greenhouse effect, greenhouse gases, and temperature pages to learn more about how burning fossil fuels affects global climate and ecosystems. InvestigateLearn more in these real-world examples, and challenge yourself to construct a model that explains the Earth system relationships.
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