The Negative Effects of Fossil Fuel Usage Essay example -- Environmen

The Negative Effects of Fossil Fuel Usage         The health of the environment is our livelihood.   When the environment is not in good health it could lead to health problems on a personal level.   One of the major environmental problems is air pollution from the burning of fossil fuels.   Levels of carbon dioxide emitted by fossil fuels into the atmosphere in 1991 was an estimated â€Å"5.6 billion tons per year† (Tesar, 28).   If we keep running down the path we are on using fossil fuels like no tomorrow there is some worry among scientists, â€Å"Some scientists estimate that the number will jump to as much as 30 billion tons per year within the next few decades† (28).      Concern for the environment is not a recent phenomena.   Rachel Carson (1907- 1964), was an â€Å"American marine biologist and the author of widely read books on ecological themes†Ã‚   (Bram, 326).   One of her more outstanding quotes on the environment is, â€Å"The most alarming of all man’s assaults upon the environment is the contamination of air, earth, rivers, and sea†¦this pollution is for the most part irrecoverable† (Peter, 171).    I agree with Rachel Carson that earth, air, and water pollution is for the most part irrecoverable.  Ã‚   Some institutions working today to clean up the environment do help some, but as I see it they are not showing results.   There efforts are a feeble attempt because pollution levels keep rising and they could never keep up.   According to Hayes the former director of the Solar Research Institute under President Jimmy Carter of Earth Island Journal, â€Å"In 1993, President Clinton pledged to reduce US CO2 emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2000.   Instead, the nation’s CO2 emissions are now projected to rise at least 13 percent by the ... ...> Hawking, Stephen.   A Brief History of Time:   From the Big Bang to Black Holes.   New York:   Bantam, 1988. Peter, Laurence J. Dr.   Peter’s Quotations.   New York:   Quill William Morrow, 1977. Simanek, Donald E.   (1994)   The Hazards of Solar Energy.     Dsimanek/solar.htm>   (27 October 1998). â€Å"Solar Power-The Basics.†Ã‚   Solar Power-The Basics.   27 October 1998.   http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/solar/brief2.html   (27 October 1998). â€Å"Solar Tax Credits for North Carolina.†Ã‚   North Carolina Solar Center Information   Factsheet.   30 November 1998.     (30 November 1998). Tesar, Jenny.   Global Warming.   New York;   Facts On File, 1991. â€Å"Timeline:   Photovoltaic Development.†Ã‚   Untitled.   2 December, 1998.      (2 December, 1998).