Tracing Back to the Birth of Fossil Fuels

Oil, coal and natural gas took tens of millions of years to form underground. Humanity is now learning the devastating effects of burning these fossil fuels.

By Tree Meinch
Apr 28, 2023 8:30 PMMay 3, 2023 6:25 PM
Burning oil gas flare
(Credit: Glovatskiy/Shutterstock)

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Anyone who has tossed a log on a campfire has witnessed energy changing forms, from dead organic matter to heat.

Ironically, whether you’re using a beam of light through a magnifying glass, tree branches or a splash of gasoline, your campfire’s fuel technically originated with the sun.

The key difference, however, is that all these energy sources came to be through vastly different geological paths, which attaches different consequences to their use.

What Are Fossil Fuels?

In the case of a fossil fuel — typically coal, oil and natural gas — it took tens of millions of years to take its form.

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