U.08 Hydrocarbons

Day 02 - Hydrocarbon Economy

Today in class I am going to walk you through an overview of the hydrocarbon economy, during which I will need you to take careful notes. I am not reproducing the information here because I need you to compose your own notes rather than simply copy and paste my text. If for any reason you missed today, you will have to get your notes from a classmate. Remember that the notes you take during this unit may be used on the test at the end of the unit.

Anthropogenic
anything caused by human activity
Anthropogenic Climate Change
changes in the long-term atmospheric conditions of the Earth that are attributable primarily to human action
Climate
an average of weather conditions over a long period of time in the same location
Fracking
the common name for hydraulic fracturing, a process by which petroleum engineers use a highly dense solution to crack rocks deep beneath the surface, causing oil and natural gas to bubble up from an intermingled state that would resist traditional oil pumping techniques
Hydrocarbon
any molecule consisting exclusively of hydrogen and carbon atoms; starches, sugars, and fossil fuels are examples of hydrocarbons