Today, 80 percent of all the energy used in the world comes from burning fossil fuels — coal, oil and gas. Though mostly invisible — every minute of every day, all around the world — there are billions of tiny and large fires burning these fuels. Under the hood, in the internal combustion engines of cars, trucks, boats and planes, these fuels are being combusted. Huge power plants fire-up these fuels to generate electricity. Inside many homes, tiny flames power our furnaces, hot water heaters, clothes dryers, stoves and ovens.
Science has connected the dots. We burn these fuels; they pollute the air; we breathe in their toxic pollution; millions die from respiratory disease. Their carbon pollution accumulates in the atmosphere, trapping the sun’s heat like a blanket; the planet overheats, creating extreme weather and more death and destruction .
As the planet’s temperature increases, polar ice melts and ocean water expands, causing sea levels to rise and flood coastal communities. The hotter air sucks moisture from land and vegetation, creating drought and conditions ideal for wildfires. Hotter air also holds more water vapor, so that rain more often comes in deluges, like an atmospheric river . Hotter temperatures form long-lasting heat domes making life for all living things unbearable . This is what an economy fueled by coal, oil and gas looks like.