Effects on the Environment
Among the major energy sources, oil and coal are the dirtiest. These two sources are carbon-intensive and when used spew a lot of carbon emissions into the atmosphere. These emissions are contributory to global warming which cause climate change all over the world. If anyone is alert or conscious enough, weather patterns have changed drastically in the last decades. Whereas before, summers are not so hot and winters were milder, climate change made summers extremely hot causing heat waves and winters are often bitingly cold. Even the arrival of seasons had changed such that spring comes early by a few weeks and winters last longer than usual. These have a big effect on plants and animals as well. Before, birds lay their eggs on certain times to coincide the hatchings with the arrival of spring and the profusion of worms for them to eat. Now, because of changed weather patterns, hatchlings come days early and fail to catch the arrival of worms. Many birds are now in danger of extinction. Other species are now on the endangered list as well to forestall extinction.
Global warming pollution
The most telling effects of global warming can be found at the polar regions where ice is melting so fast. Polar bears in some areas have nowhere to cling unto since ice floes have disappeared altogether. The extraction or drilling activities to get oil and coal are also contributory to environmental degradation. Open pit mining techniques to get coal destroy the landscape forever and oil spills from ship mishaps cause massive pollution. Some of these environmental changes are irreversible.
The above site gives a graphic map on the effects of global warming on the local level such as heat waves during summertime, rise in sea levels and coastal floodings, and the most alarming, melting of polar ice caps. Glaciers are the most sensitive indicators of climate change. They increase in both size and area during winters and then reduce during summers but in the last century, glaciers were not able to compensate for enough ice during winters to replace ice lost during summer. They call it as glacier retreat with the polar regions becoming smaller as viewed by satellite photographs. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns that an increasing body of scientific data indicates a collective picture of a progressively-warming world. Climatic changes caused by a warmer world will make diseases spread more quickly, coral reefs bleaching, heavier rainfalls and snowfalls, and more severe droughts among others. Scientists concluded that such problems can be mitigated and even reversed if carbon emissions can be trapped or captured (called as carbon sequestration).