Things that I have learned about "Adding to the Atmosphere"

It's only recently that humans have begun to change the air. Before 1800's it is said that our civilization had very, very little effect on the atmosphere. But as our numbers grew and our society advanced, that changed in a hurry. I learned that before the 1800, there were fewer than one billion people on earth. But since then, the world population has sky-rocketed. Now there are over 6.5 billion of us sharing this planet. As our numbers have increased, our technology has also advanced. I researched that people invented the electric light bulb and the gasoline engine. More and more people began to raise cattle, grow rice, and plow fields. People began to travel by cars, by ship, and by plane. All of these things send greenhouse gases into the air. We're doing more than ever before, and there are enough of us on the planet that it's making a difference. How are we adding carbon into the air, you ask? Some comes from cutting down trees. People cut down forests to settle the land and to clear it to grow crops, and they use the wood for fuel and lumber. But all these those living trees stored carbon. That carbon is released back into the air when when the trees are burned or when they decay. Most of the rest of the carbon dioxide we emit comes from burning "fossil fuels" are trapped underground, under the seafloor or in sediment of ancient rock. I also learned that we drill for oil and dig for coal, then convert them into forms we can use. When coal is burned in power plants or gasoline made from oil is burned in car engines, the carbon that was once a part of a prehistoric plant or animal is released back into the air as carbon dioxide. I found out that we use fossil fuels for everything. Thousands of coal - burning power plants around the world generate the electricity that people use to light their homes and offices and run everything from refrigerators to computers. Oil refinances make the gasoline that fuels the world's cars, trucks, and airplanes. I also found out that natural gas is used to heat our homes and cook our food. Fossil fuels are also used in making everything from steel to cement, and from plastics to paper. Our world is built on - and is powered by fossil fuels.