The excess CO2 we put into the atmosphere
by burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil, or natural gas is removed very slowly by ocean uptake and other geological processes.
The remaining 39 billion tons of annual human - made CO2 emissions come from other activities like
burning fossil fuels in power plants and vehicles and producing concrete.
Consequently an increase in the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases from human activities such
as burning fossil fuels leads to an enhanced greenhouse effect.
This is roughly the rise predicted by climate change scenarios in which humans go
on burning fossil fuels, to deposit ever more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
The primary way freshwater ecosystems absorb CO2 created by
humans burning fossil fuels is likely different than what happens in oceans.
The power plant would
n't burn fossil fuels and would actually reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere during the manufacturing process.
They also know that the buildup of the heat - trapping gas began when humans
started burning fossil fuels to power industry in the 18th century.
But while forests are working diligently to clean up the carbon we have emitted
through burning fossil fuels, deforestation is pumping carbon right back into the atmosphere.
We're the ones
who burn fossil fuels and clear trees that absorb carbon dioxide, sending heat - trapping gases into the atmosphere.
They also say the terminals would undermine the nation's greenhouse gas reductions by enabling Asian countries to
burn the fossil fuel instead.
The CO2 pumped into the atmosphere by
burning fossil fuels today will hang around for centuries, building up over time and continuing to warm the planet.
You can't just bury your head in the sand and pretend you can
just burn fossil fuels and not have to face any carbon price.
Humans have
been burning fossil fuels for only about 150 years, yet that has started a cascade of profound changes that at their current pace will still be felt 10,000 years from now.
They showed that reducing greenhouse gas emissions from
burning fossil fuels also reduces the pollution that causes millions of premature deaths in societies around the world.
The three men, like many other high - ranking officials in the administration, have voiced profound skepticism about whether
burning fossil fuels contributes to global warming.
A problem is that markets for trading carbon dioxide focus on cuts in emissions at power plants and
factories burning fossil fuels, not renewable energies which are viewed as green.