The Impact of Production and use of Energy on the Global Climate

Abstract

The increasing production of energy by man has begun to modify significantly the environment that the earth naturally offers man. At first the environmental effects were local, l imited to cities and industrial zones. In recent years , how­ ever, cities and industries have grown rapidly and they extend now over consid­ erable areas, so that man's influence on the environment has become regional. The increasing amount of available energy has also led to modifications in the environment that merely a few generations ago were not even thought to be possible. Modern forestry , agriculture , exploitation of hydropower, construc­ tion of roads, and mining often imply very significant changes of the natural environment over large areas . The question to what extent the climate of the earth is being i nfluenced by increasing e nergy production2 obviously represents an important aspect of the total enviro nmental problem. We c an distinguish three principal ways in which man i nfluences the c limate . l . All e nergy that modern civilization uses sooner or later is transformed i nto heat that may influence the climate . 2. When energy is being produced, man changes the physical, chemical , and biological processes that together shape the climate of the earth. 3. With the aid of the very l arge amounts of energy becoming available, man is able to change the natural environment and thereby also possibly the climate .