Environmental+Consequences

The first issue concerns global warming. The burning of fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide (CO2), which is a greenhouse gas, into the earth’s atmosphere. When the earth absorbs the sun’s energy, much of it is emitted as radiation back into outer space. However, some of this energy is absorbed by the gasses in our atmosphere, which then radiate the energy back down onto the earth. Some greenhouse effect is natural and necessary, but as SolaryA continue to increase this effect through the emission of CO2 and other greenhouse gasses, the resulting climate change can be severe (EPA, 2009). The second problem is that they are “capital energy sources,” so they cannot be replenished. Fossil fuels account for 83% of the world’s energy consumption and will eventually be depleted (Neville, 1995). The finite nature of fossil fuels will become a very real problem before the end of the century.