Fossil Fuels

Fact 1: All fossils fuels are the result of plant decomposition that happened millions of years ago – underwater. The most recent discovery of an untapped oil field was discovered in Alaska. The ice is thought to have covered a sea that existed millions of years ago.

Fact 2: Fossil fuels include coal, natural gas, and oil. The current statistics show that globally, fossil fuels provide for over 85% of all the energy we consume.

Fact 3: Prospecting for oil requires measuring the type of rock that is beneath the Earth’s surface. Scientist drill to remove a core sample, and then examine the strata levels to determine if there is evidence of the plant decomposition needed to have created the crude oil.

Fact 4: Crude oil is found in underground areas called reservoirs that can be turned into products such as gasoline and electricity.

Fact 5: Coal is a combustible rock that is black in color. It runs in veins through the rock beneath the surface of the Earth. Coal mines allow miners to go underground to remove the veins from the rock itself.

Fact 6: Natural gas is a form of methane. It gets trapped in pockets where plant decomposition has occurred. It can be underground, but it can also be above ground if the organic compounds in the water source are the right type. New experiments are working to discover how to harvest methane from the waste products of animals such as cows.

Fact 7: Fossil fuels are not a renewable resource even though we have not located all of the reserves there are in the world. They take millions of years to produce. It is estimated that given our current trend in consumption, and the predictive discovery of new sources of fossil fuels, the world will run out of them within 100 to 200 years.

Fact 8: Fossil fuels, when burned, can be used to generate electricity or power vehicles.

Fact 9: Fossil fuels cannot be produced by humans and must first be burned to be used as electricity.

Fact 10: Natural gas is transported to houses using underground pipelines that connect directly to the natural gas sources.

Fact 11: Fossil fuels are such a common source of energy in our world because they are so easy to convert into energy. All of them are based in hydrocarbons, which only have to be burned to release their energy.

Fact 12: Americans use about 18 millions barrels of oil everyday.

REFERENCES

Carrette, L., Friedrich, K. A., & Stimming, U. (2001). Fuel Cells - Fundamentals and Applications. Fuel Cells. https://doi.org/10.1002/1615-6854(200105)1:1<5::aid-fuce5>3.0.co;2-g

Höök, M., & Tang, X. (2013). Depletion of fossil fuels and anthropogenic climate change-A review. Energy Policy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2012.10.046

Mohr, S. H., Wang, J., Ellem, G., Ward, J., & Giurco, D. (2015). Projection of world fossil fuels by country. Fuel. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2014.10.030

Shafiee, S., & Topal, E. (2009). When will fossil fuel reserves be diminished? Energy Policy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2008.08.016

United Nations Environment Programme. (2019). Renewable energy investment in 2018 hit USD 288.9 billion, far exceeding fossil fuel investment. Retrieved from https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/press-release/renewable-energy-investment-2018-hit-usd-2889-billion-far-exceeding

Air Pollutant Emissions (UK vs US)

Facts

Air pollution in the UK is a major cause of diseases such as asthma, lung disease, stroke, and heart disease, and is estimated to cause forty thousand premature deaths each year, which is about 8.3% of deaths, while costing around £40 billion each year. Air pollution is monitored and regulated.

The Clean Air Act authorizes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to protect public health by regulating the emissions of these harmful air pollutants. The NRDC has been a leading authority on this law since it was established in 1970.

FURTHER READING

Brunekreef, B., & Holgate, S. T. (2002). Air pollution and health. Lancet. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(02)11274-8

Kampa, M., & Castanas, E. (2008). Human health effects of air pollution. Environmental Pollution. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2007.06.012

Riojas-Rodríguez, H., Romieu, I., & Hernández-Ávila, M. (2017). Air pollution. In Occupational and Environmental Health. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190662677.003.0018

Temperature Anomaly

Temperature Anomaly Trends

• The average rate of increase since 1981 (0.17°C / 0.31°F) is more than twice as great.

• The 10 warmest years on record have all occurred since 1998, and 9 of the 10 have occurred since 2005.

• According to IPCC 2007 report, sea levels will rise by 7-23 inches by the end of this century due to global warming

• Since 1880, the average temperature has risen by 1.4-Fahrenheit degrees.

• The last two decades of the 20th century have been hottest in the last 400 years, according to climate studies.

• The Arctic is one of the worst places to be affected by global warming.

FURTHER READING

Ruedy, R., Sato, M., & Lo, K. (2010). Global surface temperature change. Reviews of Geophysics. https://doi.org/10.1029/2010RG000345

Hansen, James, Sato, M., Ruedy, R., Lo, K., Lea, D. W., & Medina-Elizade, M. (2006). Global temperature change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0606291103

Vermeer, M., & Rahmstorf, S. (2009). Global sea level linked to global temperature. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0907765106

Pollution

Pollution Statistics

Pollution is one of the biggest global killers, affecting over 100 million people. That’s comparable to global diseases like malaria and HIV.

Cleanups can save animals’ lives and discourage people from littering in the future. Take initiative and host a cleanup -- wearing anything but clothes! -- at a park near you. Sign up for 

In 1975, the National Academy of Sciences estimated that ocean-based sources, such as cargo ships and cruise liners had dumped 14 billion pounds of garbage into the ocean.

Over 1 million seabirds and 100,000 sea mammals are killed by pollution every year.

People who live in places with high levels of air pollutants have a 20% higher risk of death from lung cancer than people who live in less-polluted areas.

Further Reading

1. World Health Organization. "Climate change and health." 2014. Web Accessed April 25, 2015. ↩︎

2. Keep America Beautiful. “LITTER IN AMERICA.” 2010. Web Accessed April 25, 2015. ↩︎

3. California Coastal Commission. "Marine Debris." State of California. Web Accessed April 25, 2015. ↩︎

4. United Nations Environment Programme. "Marine Liter: Trash that Kills." Web Accessed April 25, 2015. ↩︎

5. Grens, Kerry. "Air pollution tied to lung cancer in non-smokers." Thomas Reuters, 2011. Web Accessed April 25, 2015. ↩︎