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Human energy use plays a large part  into creating CO2 greenhouse gas emissions. Since so much of the  industrialized and modern world is so reliant on coal for energy a large  amount of CO2 is created from the burning of that coal. In 2012, coal  made up 29% of the total world energy supplies and also contributed 44%  of the global CO2. So there is a direct link between human consumption  and the increase in greenhouse gases. This is not even taking into  account methane or other natural gases that contribute heavily to  greenhouse gases. Since so much of the world relies on these fossil  fuels to function it has created a geopolitical power struggle between  nations. Whomever has the most oil can barter whatever they wish adding a  layer of complexity to solving the human component of human consumption  into climate change.

Although most of the world is reliant  on fossil fuels for energy there is still hope for ways to reverse the  consumption of these fuels or reverse the effects of them. For example  Germany has now shifted a large part of its energy production to  renewable resources such as wind and solar. Although these solutions do  not provide enough to account for all of Germany’s energy needs this is  indeed a step in the right direction. A large issue would be getting the  larger producers of greenhouse gases onboard such as China. Since they  have such a strong economy and can pay for all the fossil fuels they  wish currently it would be a hard sell to get China to invest heavily  into alternative energy solutions.

Grant “Ginger” McHaney

Reference

Williams, D. (2014, January 22). We must not demonise coal – German Environment Minister (Links to an external site.). Power Engineering International. Retrieved from http://www.powerengineeringint.com/articles/2014/01/we-must-not-demonise-coal-german-environment-minister.html