Explainer
Since the Industrial Revolution, we have relied on fossil fuels to provide most of our energy needs — even today, about ⅘ of the world’s energy comes from fossil fuels. However, fossil fuels possess a high carbon content, and their extraction, production and use have had extremely harmful effects on the environment, including land degradation, water pollution, air pollution, GHG emissions, ocean acidification and global warming, not to mention their many negative impacts on human health. They are the largest driver of climate change.