AND I'LL GIVE A Our Earth includes a variety of precious natural resources that include sunlight, water, fossil fuels, and forests. Some resources are stored in different forms, which can be processed to obtain useful products, such as petroleum, minerals, or metals. In terms of energy resources, there are two types of natural resources that are used to generate energy: renewable resources, such as water, sunlight, and wind; and nonrenewable resources, such as such as coal, natural gas, or crude oil. The nonrenewable energy sources are widely used around the world. When fossil fuels are burned for energy, carbon dioxide (CO2) is released into the environment. Carbon dioxide is one of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that helps to keep the planet warm, as it traps the radiation coming from the Sun. Too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can retain high amounts of thermal energy and cause the temperature to rise, which can have devastating effects on the environment. In the last century, the level of atmospheric carbon has increased at an alarming rate.

The graph shows the increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere since 1900.

QUESTION: Before the eighteenth century, coal was used by humans in many places on Earth for cooking and heating. In the eighteenth century, after the industrial revolution began, fossil fuels like coal were increasingly used to generate power and energy. Today, many manufacturers and nearly all forms of modern transportation depend on these fossil fuels. What effect has this human dependence on fossil fuels had on the world's climate? How has technology contributed to this effect?