AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Oil releases a huge amount of carbon when burned-approximately a third of the world’s total carbon emissions. There have also been a number of oil spills in recent years that have a devastating impact on our ocean’s ecosystem. Natural gas is often promoted as a cleaner energy source than coal and oil.

Detailed explanation-2: -Burning fossil fuels, changing land use, and using limestone to make concrete all transfer significant quantities of carbon into the atmosphere. As a result, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is rapidly rising; it is already greater than at any time in the last 3.6 million years.

Detailed explanation-3: -Over the last century, burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil has increased the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). This increase happens because the coal or oil burning process combines carbon with oxygen in the air to make CO2.

Detailed explanation-4: -Coal generates the most CO2 emissions of any fossil fuel and yet remains the world’s dominant energy source.

Detailed explanation-5: -Carbon Dioxide Emissions: Human Sources Human activities such as the burning of oil, coal and gas, as well as deforestation are the primary cause of the increased carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere.