Fossil Fuels and the Environment: :: Envrionmental Pollution Essays

Fossil Fuels and the EnvironmentEver since I was a little girl Ive been watching cartoon shows care Captain Planet, which talked about pollution and the earth. I didnt really understand what they were talking about then and its sad to say that only recently hire a grasped the true message of the show. As kids and adolescents were mostly told to recycle, it wasnt until college that I acquired a broader perspective on the typesetters case of preserving the environment. Fossil fuels are an indispensable bust of human survival. However, from beginning to end this process leaves many scars on the planet. In the process of extracting coal for example, we destroy the expire soil of the earth. Before the environmental acts, the holes where the jab was performed were left uncovered, creating acid lakes from the iron pyrite left behind. End use produces pollutants from combustion, such as sulfur and nitrogen oxide (SOX and NOX), particulate matter (ROX), and carbon monoxide (CO) and un-b urnt hydrocarbons (UHC). These pollutants, both separately or in combination with one another, are responsible for smog in the ozone, acid rain, and The Greenhouse Effect. Now comes the interesting part. The earth gets the bulk of its heat from the radiation of the sun. Most of this heat should be radiated into space, yet this process is being obstructed by the amount of CO2 and other gases. While researching for this subject I also came across the problem of deforestation. Scientists say, since temperature changes could affect major climate patterns, alter species habitats, and pose other unknown consequences. The melting of the polar Ice caps is the biggest fount for worry at the moment. Rising temperatures have a dramatic impact on Arctic ice, which serves as a kind of air conditioner at the top of the world. Since 1978 Arctic sea ice area has shrunk by some 9 percent per decade, and thinned as well. Climate models suggest that global warming could safari more frequent extrem e weather conditions. Intense hurricanes and storm surges could threaten coastal communities, while heat waves, fires and drought could also become more common. edition this information causes trepidation particularly because of the abnormal amount of Hurricanes that we suffered through this year. This only proves that global warming is real and a bigger threat than we might have envisioned. As mentioned before the earth receives most of it heat form the sun, at least 32% of it is reflected back by the ice caps.