The Hidden Cost of Fossil Fuels | Union of Concerned Scientists - 2 views
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Fossil fuels—coal, oil, and natural gas—are America's primary source of energy, accounting for 85 percent of current US fuel use.
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Many of the environmental problems our country faces today result from our fossil fuel dependence. These impacts include global warming, air quality deterioration, oil spills, and acid rain.
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Over the last 150 years, burning fossil fuels has resulted in more than a 25 percent increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.
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limate scientists predict that if carbon dioxide levels continue to increase, the planet will become warmer in the next century.
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Several important pollutants are produced by fossil fuel combustion: carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and hydrocarbons. In addition, total suspended particulates contribute to air pollution, and nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons can combine in the atmosphere to form tropospheric ozone, the major constituent of smog.
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Finally, fossil fuel use also produces particulates, including dust, soot, smoke, and other suspended matter, which are respiratory irritants.
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Sulfur oxides are produced by the oxidization of the available sulfur in a fuel. Utilities that use coal to generate electricity produce two-thirds of the nation's sulfur dioxide emissions. Nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides are important constituents of acid rain
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Hydrocarbons are emitted from human-made sources such as auto and truck exhaust, evaporation of gasoline and solvents, and petroleum refining.
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Two oxides of nitrogen--nitrogen dioxide and nitric oxide--are formed in combustion. Nitrogen oxides appear as yellowish-brown clouds over many city skylines