What is Fossil Fuel dependence?

Dependency on fossil fuels is substantial dependence on energy sources like coal, natural gas and oil which are mainly the primary energy source in the world. Over several million years, fossil fuels have been made up of organic material. For the past 100 years the US and international industry (Payne, Maruška and Junsoo 389) have been fossil fuels that have been critical in fueling them. The United States is the biggest consumer of mostly oil and natural gas fossil fuels worldwide. For example, in 2010, 79 percent of US greenhouse gas emissions may come from the use of fossil fuel, because the high degree of fossil fuel dependence is a significant environmental threat. Importantly, the United States heavily depends on natural gas and petroleum as the primary components in the manufacture of commodities such as clothes, computers, building materials, and paints.

Moreover, the transportation massively demonstrates the high dependence on fossil fuels. The energy density, transportability, and low cost of the fossil fuels facilitated the economic globalisation and centralization after the Second World War (Payne, Maruška and Junsoo 386). Furthermore, personal transportation is another contributor to the high dependence on fossil fuel with most people owning private cars. Similarly, the food sector heavily depends on fossil fuels for transportation, production, and processing food. The farming industry makes use of machinery that heavily depend on fossil fuel. Other examples of heavy dependence on fossil fuels include home heating that relies on fossil fuel and heating of oil to generate electricity.

What are the trends for the worldwide demand for energy?

The energy demand is expected to increase at a fast rate over the next few years because of the economic development and economic growth. Importantly, the greatest shift is projected to take place in the developing nations as people are experiencing a change in lifestyle and the economy is changing from a subsistence economy to a service or industrial economy. Primarily, the demand for energy is expected to increase from 46% in 2004 to about 60% in 2030 (Krausmann et al. 201). Moreover, the energy demand in the developing nations is expected to increase by 3% annually in the developing countries. The growth in energy demand will result in rapid growth in India and China where the energy demand is expected to grow by 3.7% per year. Consequently, the supply of the energy is expected to rise with demand in will bring about the use of the renewable sources and the fossil fuel. The Fossil fuel will be the largest source of energy by 2030. The non-renewable sources of energy include geothermal, hydro, and wind.

What percentage of the earth’s surface is covered by rainforest? 

Rainforest is a tropical ecosystem that is either distinguished as being wet and warm. For a place to be considered a rainforest the rainfall should be a minimum of 75% inches annually. The percentage of Earth that is covered by rainforest is a mere 6%. The rate at which the world is losing the rainforest is alarming, and it is projected that the remaining 6% might be completely consumed within the next 40 years (Krausmann et al. 202). Primarily, the rainforest is destroyed because the value of the land is only perceived as the value of the timber mainly, by short sighted multinational organisations and companies. This greatly, affects the ecosystem as the animals and plants in these areas is distorted. Primarily, experts estimate that the word is losing nearly 137 species of plant and animals every year due to interference with rain forest.

How do climate change and vanishing species explain deforestation?

Deforestation is the destruction of forests to make land available for other use such as farming (Aguiar et al. 23). Importantly, 18 million acres of land are lost each year due to deforestation. The central regions that face deforestation are the tropical rainforest because they are rich in hardwoods. The most dramatic impact of deforestation is a loss of habitat, and most plants and animal species live in the forest. Nearly, 80% of the animal species live in the forest and cannot cope with the increasing deforestation that destroys their habitat (Aguiar et al. 27). Some of the species that have been heavily impacted by the climate change include orange-spotted filefish, polar bear, quiver tree, North Atlantic cod, and Acropora cervicornis and coral worldwide. These species are facing near distinct with some such as golden toad nearly extinct already. There needs a radical change in the climate policy to save the forest and the species that live in them.

What is global warming and what are its effects?

Global warming is the overall increase in temperature that is mainly attributed greenhouse gases such as chlorofluorocarbon, carbon dioxide, and other pollutants. The effects of global warming are intense, and they include firstly, ice melting globally (Crutzen et al. 235). The polar regions of the earth have seen much of its ice melting over the last few years as a result of global warming. Moreover, many animals are affected by the increasing temperature. For instance, the number of polar bears and Adelie penguins has declined over the last few years from around 32,000 to less than 11,000 over the past forty years (Crutzen et al. 232). Thirdly, the sea level has been rising rapidly in recent years because of the ice melting that is attributed to global warming. Other effects include acidification of the sea and ocean, extinction of plants and animals that cannot survive high temperatures, and extreme weather conditions.

Works cited

Payne, James E., Maruška Vizek, and Junsoo Lee. "Stochastic convergence in per capita fossil fuel consumption in US states." Energy Economics 62 (2017): 382-395.

Krausmann, Fridolin, et al. "Long-Term Trends in Global Material and Energy Use." Social Ecology. Springer International Publishing, 2016. 199-216.

Aguiar, Ludmilla MS, et al. "Should I stay or should I go? Climate change effects on the future of Neotropical savannah bats." Global Ecology and Conservation 5 (2016): 22-33.

Crutzen, Paul J., et al. "N2O release from agro-biofuel production negates global warming reduction by replacing fossil fuels." Paul J. Crutzen: A Pioneer on Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate Change in the Anthropocene. Springer International Publishing, 2016. 227-238.