Energy and Habitat Loss

Humans need energy to power homes, schools, and cars. Energy is the ability to do work or cause change. We get most of our energy from natural resources like coal, oil, and natural gas that are buried deep underground.

To reach these energy resources, people must build mines, which are large holes dug into the earth to remove coal and other materials. They also create drilling sites, which are places where machines drill deep into the ground to pump out oil or natural gas. Once these resources are collected, they are often taken to power plants, which are buildings with large machines that burn fuel to make electricity.

Building these structures causes serious problems for nature. When companies clear land to build a mine, drilling site, or power plant, they remove trees, dig up soil, and change the landscape. This destroys the habitat, or natural home, where animals and plants live. A habitat provides food, water, and shelter that living things need to survive.

When habitats are destroyed, animals must find new places to live or they may die. Plants cannot move, so they are removed or buried. This harms the entire ecosystem, which is all the living and nonliving things in an area that interact with each other. For example, cutting down a forest for a coal mine removes homes for birds, squirrels, and insects, and destroys the plants they depend on for food.

Our energy use is connected to these impacts. The more energy we use, the more resources we need, and the more habitats may be destroyed.