Word: coaling
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Factors that will influence future climate include the number of people on Earth, the state of our socioeconomic development, and, most important of all, how dependent we are on coal, oil, and gas (versus alternative sources of energy) to fuel our economies. So what are we doing to reduce the effects of humans on Earth’s climate system...
...were experienced mainly on a local level, associated usually with effluents, both domestic and industrial, responsible for some combination of dirty air and polluted water (both surface and sub-surface) with complex consequences for both human and ecosystem health. It was relatively easy to associate cause with effect. Burning coal adds large concentrations of sooty materials to the atmosphere, in addition to gaseous compounds of nitrogen and sulfur oxides and a variety of toxic elements including, for example, mercury. The effluents from coal burning have a demonstrably negative effect on human health. It took a series of air pollution disasters...
...opted to switch to less polluting fuels such as natural gas. In either case, the solutions involved increased expense. We have been modestly successful in addressing the issue of air pollution in more affluent societies. It remains serious, however, in large developing countries such as China and India where coal is the primary fuel and where priorities for economic development often take precedence over demands for environmental protection. We chose to get rich first before taking action. Can we really blame developing countries if they opt to follow our lead...
...United States is the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide. With five percent of the world’s population, we account for 22 percent of emissions. Electricity generation, associated mainly with combustion of coal, accounts for 40 percent of US emissions. Transportation, fueled primarily by oil, is responsible for an additional 32 percent, with the balance due to a combination of home/office heating and cooling (11 percent) and various industrial processes (18 percent...
...mobilize the intellectual and entrepreneurial skills required to effect the transition from an unsustainable fossil fuel world to an environmentally friendlier alternative. It is a cruel hoax to pretend that global warming is not a problem, that Alaskan oil can reduce our dependence on the Middle East, that coal can be cleaned to the point where its environmental footprint is negligible, and that we can be isolated from the problems of poverty and environmental destruction in Africa. We live in an interconnected world. It is our god-given responsibility to ensure that its proper order is respected...