This slide shows global energy consumption over the past 200 years.
The burning of coal, oil, and natural gas (gray, green, and red wedges) supplies more than 80% of global energy consumed
- Bottom tan wedge – biomass baseline – burning of wood and muscle power. These energy sources dominated for much of human history.
- Gray wedge – coal increases from mid-19th century (industrial revolution) with a rise in later years due to coal to fuel steam electrical generation plants and global development.
- Green – oil. After WW II, the Great Acceleration caused by cars, suburban development, and agricultural revolution.
- Red – Natural gas: displacement of coal in heating of buildings. After 2012, is used in generating electricity
- Light blue – nuclear
- Dark blue – hydro
- Sliver of yellow on top – solar and wind. Currently about 1.3%. globally.
This slide shows the cumulative carbon emissions by country from 1850 to current times.
You can see that the U.S. and Europe have emitted more than half the total global carbon emissions.
The International Panel on Climate Change finds that carbon stays in the atmosphere for 100. As more carbon dioxide accumulates in the atmosphere, the climate changes become more severe.