Fossil Fuels and the Climate Crisis

The Problem

Increased greenhouse gas emissions, largely from human activity, are causing the earth to warm, with increasingly severe consequences. Greenhouse gases are gases in the earth’s atmosphere that trap heat and contribute to global warming.

What do we mean by Human Activity? A few examples include:

1. Energy production and use
   1. A large chunk of global emissions are caused by generating electricity and heat. Most electricity is generated by burning oil, gas, or coal, producing greenhouse gases. Only a quarter of electricity in the world comes from wind, solar, or other renewable sources which emit little to no greenhouse gases.
   2. Consumption of energy is a contributor of greenhouse gas emissions. Private households are linked to a large chunk of greenhouse gas emissions, with the richest 1% of the global population combined account for more greenhouse gas emissions than the poorest 50%.
2. Transportation
   1. The transportation industry greatly contributes to greenhouse gases since most cars, trucks, ships, and planes run on fossil fuels. The transportation industry accounts for almost a quarter of global carbon dioxide emissions related to energy. 
3. Agriculture and Land Use
   1. Food production causes CO2 and methane emissions through deforestation and the clearing of land for agriculture. Cows and sheep digestion require the production and use of fertilizer and manure, and the energy used to run farm equipment are usually sourced from fossil fuels. 
   2. Wood burning from deforestation is a contributor to CO2 emissions and lower the Earth’s capacity to absorb CO2. Trees store CO2 from the atmosphere and once they are burned, the absorbed CO2 gets released back.
   3. Deforestation, agriculture, and land use changes are responsible for roughly a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions. 
4. Waste management
   1. The breakdown of organic waste cause a slow decay over decades which over time releases a combination of methane and carbon dioxide.
   2. Each year, over 300 million tons of plastic are produced globally, with nearly half of this being single-use plastic. The production and disposal of plastic play a significant role in contributing to global greenhouse gas emissions. The incineration of plastic waste releases substantial amounts of toxic pollutants into the atmosphere, exacerbating environmental pollution. Additionally, the process of refining and manufacturing plastics is responsible for emitting an estimated 184 to 213 million metric tons of greenhouse gases annually, further intensifying climate change and its associated impacts.

Over the last century, burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil has increased the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). This increase happens because the coal or oil burning process combines carbon with oxygen in the air to make CO2. To a lesser extent, clearing of land for agriculture, industry, and other human activities has increased concentrations of greenhouse gases.

Fossil fuels – coal, oil and gas – are by far the largest contributor to global climate change, accounting for over 75 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 90 per cent of all carbon dioxide emissions.

How do we know?

The industrial activities that our modern civilization depends upon have raised atmospheric carbon dioxide levels by nearly 50% since 17502. This increase is due to human activities, because scientists can see a distinctive isotopic fingerprint in the atmosphere.

The combination of scientific data, observations, and models evidence a clear shift in the global and regional climate patterns. One of the most direct indicators of this is the increase in the global average temperature. The earth’s average surface temperature has increased about 1.3C since the pre-industrial era. 

In its Sixth Assessment Report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, composed of scientific experts from countries all over the world, concluded that it is unequivocal that the increase of CO2, methane, and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere over the industrial era is the result of human activities and that human influence is the principal driver of many changes observed across the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and biosphere.

What needs to be done?

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to stopping or slowing global warming, and each individual, business, municipal, state, tribal, and federal entity must weigh their options in light of their own unique set of circumstances. Experts say it is likely many strategies working together will be needed. Generally speaking, here are some examples of mitigation strategies we can use to slow or stop the human-caused global warming (learn more):

1. Energy Efficiency
   • Where possible, we can switch to renewable sources of energy (such as solar and wind energy) to power our homes and buildings, thus emitting far less heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere.
   • Where affordable, we can conserve energy by better insulating our homes and buildings, and by replacing old, failing appliances with more energy-efficient models.
2. Transportation
   • Where feasible, we can drive electric vehicles instead of those that burn fossil fuels; or we can use mass transit instead of driving our own cars.
3. Carbon Offsetting
   • Where practicable, we can counterbalance our annual carbon dioxide emissions by investing in commercial services that draw down an equal amount of carbon out of the atmosphere, such as through planting trees or carbon capture and storage techniques.
   • We can consider placing an upper limit on the amount of carbon dioxide we will allow ourselves to emit into the atmosphere within a given timeframe.
4. Supporting Sustainable Practices
   • Where practical, we can support more local businesses that use and promote sustainable, climate-smart practices such as those listed above.

More resources:

What Are Fossil Fuels? | Smithsonian Ocean

What Is Climate Change? United Nations

Climate change impacts | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration