4 Chapter 1 FUELING CHANGE For most of human history people depended on natural sources for energy such as animal power wind power wood power and waterpower If you needed to get from one place to another you walked To travel long distances you rode a horse or sailed with the wind If you were cold you burned wood Waterwheels ground your wheat and powered your factories People once depended on strong animals like horses to help with farming
5 Thomas Edison invented the light bulb in 1879 It is powered by electricity which is often generated by burning fossil fuels fossil fuels By the mid eighteenth century many people had switched to fossil fuels for energy Coal oil and natural gas are all fossil fuels They come from the fossilized remains of ancient plants and animals Fossil fuels provided cheaper more powerful energy Use of fossil fuels led to the invention of new technology New inventions such as the light bulb and the internal combustion engine launched an industrial revolution that changed people's lives
6 Hurricane Harvey hit Texas in August 2017 Due to climate change storms like hurricanes are getting stronger A Changing Climate But as our sources of energy changed Earth's climate began to change too Climate change is what happens when a place's weather patterns change over time This includes changes in average heat rainfall and wind patterns Earth's climate is changing right now and the effects of climate change are getting worse Temperatures are rising Storms are getting stronger Polar ice is melting But what is causing climate change One factor is the decreasing air quality of Earth's atmosphere
7 Chapter 2 OUR AIR AFFECTS OUR CLIMATE Fossil fuels power our cars heat our homes run our factories and generate electricity Fossil fuels are burned to produce energy When they burn fossil fuels give off greenhouse gases At this power plant exhaust from burning fossil fuels pours greenhouse gases into the air
