RESOURCES AND HUMAN IMPACTS ON EARTH SYSTEMS

Energy is fundamental to human industry and technological development. We use energy from the earth to run our cars, power our buildings, and make our goods. More and more each day, humans are starting to realize the benefits of non-renewable energy. As or January 21st, 2009, around 13% of America’s energy comes from renewable-energy sources (7), the rest is non-renewable. Fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, oil) are a non-renewable energy sources that we depend heavily on as a society. “The world consumes over 85 million barrels of oil every day (over 30 billion barrels per year). The USA alone consumes over 20 million barrels per day (over 7 billion barrels per year).” (6). All this oil goes to produce things like plastic, and to power things like our cars. To understand why this outlook is bad, we need to investigate the “pros and cons” of each energy source, renewable and non-renewable.

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Non-renewable energy sources are what have made America great, but are not the ideal energy source for future generations. These energy sources are cheap, powerful, and have already been ingrained into society. Where these energies fail is in the environmental impact. Fossil fuel is a major non-renewable resource that runs the world. It is a cheap energy source to gather, all that is required is for an oil drilling company to drill into an “oil reservoir” and “pump out” all the oil. To drill an oil well in Arizona in 2003 could cost anywhere between $400,000 and $1,000,000 (3). It is also very powerful and convenient, giving off high amounts of energy in a little package which can be transported anywhere easily. However, fossil fuels are a “dirty energy”. When fossil fuels are consumed, the by product is often a mixture of greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide. These “greenhouse gases” trap heat in the atmosphere from the sun, too much of these gases heats up our planet and ruins the natural balance of the atmosphere (2). A simple look at Venus’ “hellish atmosphere”, with huge quantities of greenhouse gases, should show us this is a bad thing.

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Renewable energies are what governments today are striving to achieve (7). Hydropower, solar power, and wind power are three of the main types of renewable energy sources. Hydropower uses water to spin turbines to produce electricity. Solar power uses the energy from the sun to produce power by means of producing steam, or by means of photovoltaic cells which convert sunlight to electricity (8). Wind power uses wind on earth to turn turbines, which produce electricity in return. All these sources of energy have the benefit of being totally renewable by getting their energy from things like the sun (which will never run out in our lifetime, hopefully). They are also clean burning with no harmful byproducts, like carbon dioxide. The drawback to renewable-energy is the cost. Great hydropower plants like Hoover Dam, cost $49,000,000 to build (5).

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Human pollution through our energy sources is not the only thing impacting our environment. Deforestation is a huge problem in today’s society which impacts the four Earth systems (biosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, and hydrosphere). The definition of deforestation is the removal of trees on a massive scale on land. The first impact is on the biosphere. Many living organisms live in trees. When a whole area of trees is removed, these organisms lose their home and shelter. “Seventy percent of Earth’s land animals and plants live in forests...” (1). The second impact is on the geosphere and hydrosphere. With trees removed, there is a limited way of returning water vapor to the atmosphere above lush forest lands. With little to no water vapor, these lands can become barren deserts (1). The third impact is the atmosphere. Trees are natural carbon dioxide filters. Like plants, they consume carbon dioxide and produce oxygen. When trees are cut down, they release all the carbon dioxide they have captured, back into the atmosphere. This results in more greenhouse gases present in the atmosphere.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1.      Deforestation. National Geographic. Web. 22 Nov. 2010.

2.      Earth's Solar Greenhouse. 17 Oct. 2010. Web. 22 Nov. 2010. <http://www.green-planet-solar-energy.com/index.html>.

3.      Editorial. Arizona Geology Spring 2003: 1-4. Web. 22 Nov. 2010.

4.      Fossil Fuels or Solar Future? 17 Oct. 2010. Web. 22 Nov. 2010. <http://www.green-planet-solar-energy.com/index.html>.

5.      Hoover Dam FAQ's. Sunsetcities.com. Web. 22 Nov. 2010. <http://www.sunsetcities.com/hoover-dam/faqs-00.html>.

6.      Journey to Energy Independence. Ron Bengtson. Web. 22 Nov. 2010.

7.      Loftin, Lacey. "Infrastructure and Renewable Energy Policy Highlighted." Energy: Renewable Sources. 21 Jan. 2009. Web. 22 Nov. 2010.

8.      Renewable:Solar. U.S. Energy Information Administration. Web. 22 Nov. 2010.