What Are the Effects of Fossil Fuels, And Are There Alternatives?
By T. A.
Climate change can be worse than you think it is. We could be living under water. Sounds cool, right? ABSOLUTELY NOT! As we are becoming more industrialized there are more fossil fuels being emitted into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is a fossil fuel that is causing climate change. The greenhouse effect shows us the causes and the consequences of using fossil fuels.
The greenhouse effect shows us that using fossil fuels is bad for the earth. First, fossil fuels let heat into our atmosphere which is not good because the heat cannot escape from earth. As more heat comes in, more ice melts, which creates more water. Fossil fuels create the same gasses that are in greenhouses. Gasses like harmful carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide are dangerous to the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide comes from many things, but cars are the most harmful. Carbon dioxide has been produced as early as Henry Ford’s first Model T car. Carbon dioxide is harmful because it can stay in the atmosphere for hundreds of years. Carbon dioxide creates “holes” in the atmosphere that lets in unwanted heat from the sun (Climate Change). Excessive amounts of the sun’s heat will create a soup of the earth.
Nitrous Oxide is also a harmful gas. Nitrous Oxide mostly comes from us. It is a natural part of the atmosphere “but about 40 percent of nitrous oxide emissions are caused by human activity, mainly in the areas of agriculture, transportation, and industry,” according to UXL Sustainable Living. It is the third most common gas, but it is one of the most dangerous. Nitrous oxide is more dangerous than carbon dioxide because it burns 300 times faster which makes holes at a faster rate (Climate Change). All these holes are making our atmosphere weaker. The weaker the atmosphere is the easier gasses will get through to let in heat.
We do not have to keep using these fossil fuels. There are alternatives, such as solar power, wind power, geothermal power and many others. Solar power is a good alternative because it uses the sun’s light to absorb and create energy. The sun is not always shining, so if we only use electricity when there is no sunlight we don’t have to worry about cloudy days. Wind power is another option because it uses wind to create electricity without creating any pollution. However, these windmills have to be built cautiously to avoid harming birds and low flying planes. Geothermal power is the best option because it uses pumped water to create thermal energy from water closest to the earth’s crust (Alternative Energy). While this does create some greenhouse gasses, scientist say they should be able to manage the toxins.
Fossil fuels are bad, but it’s not the end of the world. If we look into other alternatives then fossil fuels might be used less than they are now. We still should look into making the alternatives even better so we don’t have to worry about any bad effects. That’s why fossil fuels are not the answer, and we should start looking into these alternatives.
By T. A.
Climate change can be worse than you think it is. We could be living under water. Sounds cool, right? ABSOLUTELY NOT! As we are becoming more industrialized there are more fossil fuels being emitted into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is a fossil fuel that is causing climate change. The greenhouse effect shows us the causes and the consequences of using fossil fuels.
The greenhouse effect shows us that using fossil fuels is bad for the earth. First, fossil fuels let heat into our atmosphere which is not good because the heat cannot escape from earth. As more heat comes in, more ice melts, which creates more water. Fossil fuels create the same gasses that are in greenhouses. Gasses like harmful carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide are dangerous to the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide comes from many things, but cars are the most harmful. Carbon dioxide has been produced as early as Henry Ford’s first Model T car. Carbon dioxide is harmful because it can stay in the atmosphere for hundreds of years. Carbon dioxide creates “holes” in the atmosphere that lets in unwanted heat from the sun (Climate Change). Excessive amounts of the sun’s heat will create a soup of the earth.
Nitrous Oxide is also a harmful gas. Nitrous Oxide mostly comes from us. It is a natural part of the atmosphere “but about 40 percent of nitrous oxide emissions are caused by human activity, mainly in the areas of agriculture, transportation, and industry,” according to UXL Sustainable Living. It is the third most common gas, but it is one of the most dangerous. Nitrous oxide is more dangerous than carbon dioxide because it burns 300 times faster which makes holes at a faster rate (Climate Change). All these holes are making our atmosphere weaker. The weaker the atmosphere is the easier gasses will get through to let in heat.
We do not have to keep using these fossil fuels. There are alternatives, such as solar power, wind power, geothermal power and many others. Solar power is a good alternative because it uses the sun’s light to absorb and create energy. The sun is not always shining, so if we only use electricity when there is no sunlight we don’t have to worry about cloudy days. Wind power is another option because it uses wind to create electricity without creating any pollution. However, these windmills have to be built cautiously to avoid harming birds and low flying planes. Geothermal power is the best option because it uses pumped water to create thermal energy from water closest to the earth’s crust (Alternative Energy). While this does create some greenhouse gasses, scientist say they should be able to manage the toxins.
Fossil fuels are bad, but it’s not the end of the world. If we look into other alternatives then fossil fuels might be used less than they are now. We still should look into making the alternatives even better so we don’t have to worry about any bad effects. That’s why fossil fuels are not the answer, and we should start looking into these alternatives.