In 1973, people often waited for hours in long lines at gas stations to fill up their cars. The reason: A group of oil-producing countries stopped exporting oil to the U.S. As Science World reported, many people worried the country would run out of fuel.
Today, our continued reliance on oil has spawned another problem: climate change. Burning oil and other fossil fuels releases heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. As a result, warming average global temperatures are reshaping long-term weather patterns—and the world.
“The problem of climate change is not some distant problem that will affect us in 50 to 100 years,” says Jason Bordoff, director of the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University in New York. “It is causing serious harms—like floods, droughts, and fires—today.” Unless the world embraces renewable energy resources, like wind and solar power, the problem will likely continue, he says.