Non-Renewable Resources & Global Warming

By: Phillip Barrero

            The world today needs all the help it can get to stay alive. In the United States, natural gases have become the primary way to get energy. Natural gases are nonrenewable resources, such as fossil fuels, that will hurt the environment and create an unlivable space to humans and other animals in the future. It is argued that some fossil fuels are cleaner for the environment than others, but in the end, there is an entirely different solution that should be chosen. A solution to keeping the income of energy and having it be environmentally friendly is the use of renewable resources such as solar panels or hydropower. The primary sources for energy in the United States are fossil fuels. As a result of this, the earth’s environment is suffering; therefore, the United States should become environment-friendly and use renewable resources as a source of energy.

            The problem with using non-renewable resources is the negative effects it has on the environment. Most non-renewable resources are fossil fuels, such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas. When coal and oil are burned they release particles that pollute the air, water, and land (National Geographic Society). The Carbon Budget in the Earth is also changed with the burning of fossil fuels; carbon budget balances the carbon in the ocean, land, and air (National Geographic Society). Fossil fuels, like coal and petroleum, are mainly made out of carbon that has been placed under the earth for such a long period of time.  Because of this, when they are burned, the carbon is released into the air causing the imbalance in the carbon budget. Another fossil fuel, natural gas, is mainly made from methane. Methane is the gas a person smells when passing a landfill (National Geographic Society). Natural gas is healthier for the environment than fossil fuels like coal and petroleum, but it still causes environmental problems. When extracting the natural gas from underground, it can cause mini-earthquakes; these earthquakes can cause water sources to become contaminated and unsafe (National Geographic Society). Another form of non-renewable energy source is nuclear energy; nuclear energy comes from the center of an atom when it splits (National Geographic Society). Rather than using fossil fuels, it would be cleaner to switch to renewable resources such as solar panels.

            The United States is a large problem with the amount of non-renewable resources going into the environment. Over the past six years, the use of natural gas in the United States has increased by eleven percent, and the use of coal (which used to be the leading source for energy) has decreased (EIA). As mentioned before, natural gas is a better solution over other fossil fuels like coal; however, it still has negative impacts on the environment. Nuclear energy has also been used more than renewable resources in the United States (EIA). The use of renewable energy has been slightly increased in the United States, but not as much as the use of natural gas. The United States should be taking larger steps towards the goal of helping the environment, instead it is continuing to use resources that will eventually be depleted and cause the environment harm. In 2017, data was taken on which sources of energy each state in the U.S. used the most. Natural gas was used the most in Nevada, Alabama, Alaska, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas, and Virginia (Popovich). Coal was mainly used in West Virginia, Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Only Hawaii used petroleum as its main source of energy in 2017 (Popovich). Nuclear energy was used as the main source in Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Tennessee. There were only seven states that had used renewable resources as their main source for energy. Hydroelectric energy was used as the main source in Idaho, Maine, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, and Washington while Iowa used wind power as its main source (Popovich).

            The clear solution is using renewable resources, which will help clear the air and keep the environment a livable space. The main sources of renewable energy include wind power, solar power, geothermal energy, and hydroelectric power. Wind power is one of the cleanest ways to get energy and gives no pollution or global warming emissions (Union of Concerned Scientists). Solar power is also an extremely clean way to get electricity; however, there are environmental impacts tied to solar power including land use and habitat loss (Union of Concerned Scientists). Geothermal energy can come from geothermal (or hydrothermal) plants which are located near geologic hot spots that have molten rock near the earth’s crust and produces hot water (Union of Concerned Scientists). This form of energy can involve having to drill into the earth to reach deeper resources, and environmental impacts differ (Union of Concerned Scientists). Hydroelectric power includes both dams and small plants; there are environmental impacts, but they are not nearly as bad as the impacts of non-renewable resources. The counter-argument may come from large corporations that are rewarded when non-renewable resources are used; however, the income of the wealthy should be able to lightly suffer if it means humans can inhabit the earth for a longer time. Energy corporations profit more through non-renewable resources such as fracking companies. In the end, renewable resources will give the planet more time before its end.

            The Earth’s climate has been continuously increasing, and non-renewable resources have been contributing to that increase and global warming. There is a ninety-five percent probability that global warming is being caused by humans (NASA). Since the middle of the 1800s, it was shown that carbon dioxide traps heat (NASA). Part of the reason the earth is warming so much in the present is the amount of carbon in the air from the burning of fossil fuels like coal and natural gases. Most of the warming has occurred in the past thirty-five years, 2016 being the warmest year on record (NASA). This warming includes the oceans. It is clear that ice sheets have decreased in mass; In fact, the rate of ice mass loss in Antarctica has tripled in the last ten years (NASA). Glaciers are melting, snow cover has decreased, the sea level is rising, and there is declining arctic sea ice (NASA). In addition to this, there is ocean acidification that has increased by thirty percent starting from the beginning of the industrial revolution (NASA). Since 1950 extreme events in the United States have been increasing, including increasing numbers of intense rainfall events (NASA). While beginning to only use renewable resources will not completely solve the problem to global warming, it will help none the less. Overall, it will be better than using non-renewable resources. The Earth is warming, and humans should do everything they can to reverse the harm they have already done to the planet.

            The world is changing for the worse while we are using non-renewable resources to provide ourselves with energy. The only solution that will allow us to keep the amount of energy we need is that of renewable resources. Solutions such as solar panels and hydroelectric energy can help keep the earth healthier than fossil fuels. By using renewable resources, global warming will occur at a slower rate because fewer imbalances will be occurring through carbon and methane releases and pollution from coal. The United States has not taken the steps needed to shift from non-renewable to renewable energy sources, and this needs to change soon if future generations would like to live on a habitable earth.

Citations

Popovich, Nadja. “How Does Your State Make Electricity?” The New York Times, The New York

Times, 24 Dec. 2018, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/12/24/climate/how-electricity-generation-changed-in-your-state.html.

EIA. “U.S. Energy Information Administration – EIA – Independent Statistics and Analysis.”

Short-Term Energy Outlook – U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/report/electricity.php.

National Geographic Society. “Non-Renewable Energy.” National Geographic Society, 14 Feb.                  2013, www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/non-renewable-energy/.

Union of Concerned Scientists. “Environmental Impacts of Renewable Energy Technologies.”

Union of Concerned Scientists, www.ucsusa.org/clean-energy/renewable-energy/environmental-impacts.

NASA. “Climate Change Evidence: How Do We Know?” NASA, NASA, 9 July 2019,                               climate.nasa.gov/evidence/.