When fossil fuels are burned to produce energy, carbon dioxide is released. Carbon dioxide is one of the gases that cause the greenhouse effect. These gases act like a thin film that absorbs and traps heat from the sun inside our atmosphere.

People’s activities (such as burning fossil fuels for electricity, heat, and transportation) have increased the greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. As a result, the earth’s temperature is rising. This is known as global warming. (Some scientists prefer the term climate change because in addition to higher temperatures, the earth is experiencing other changes such as new weather patterns such as droughts and floods.)

Producing, transporting, and using fossil fuels and other forms of energy can also contribute harmful pollutants into our environment.

So no matter what resources your energy comes from, using energy efficiently at home, at school, and on the road is a very good way to reduce greenhouse gases and pollution and help our planet stay healthy!

Plant a Tree

Trees take carbon dioxide out of the air and give back the oxygen we need to breathe. So, trees can help balance the effects of using energy. If every family in the U.S. planted just one tree, all of these trees would remove more than a billion (1,000,000,000) pounds of greenhouse gases from the air every year!