1/9/23, 8:16 PM petroleum -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia

petroleum
petroleum, complex mixture of hydrocarbons that occur in Earth in liquid, gaseous, or solid
form. The term is often restricted to the liquid form, commonly called crude oil, but, as a
technical term, petroleum also refers to natural gas and the viscous or solid form known as
bitumen, which is found in tar sands. The liquid and gaseous phases of petroleum constitute
the most important of the primary fossil fuels.

Liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons are so intimately associated in nature that it has become
customary to shorten the expression “petroleum and natural gas” to “petroleum” when
referring to both. The first use of the word petroleum (literally “rock oil” from the Latin petra,
“rock” or “stone,” and oleum, “oil”) is often attributed to a treatise published in 1556 by the
German mineralogist Georg Bauer, known as Georgius Agricola. However, there is evidence
that it may have originated with Persian philosopher-scientist Avicenna some five centuries
earlier.

The burning of all fossil fuels (coal and biomass included) releases large quantities of carbon
dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. The CO2 molecules do not allow much of the long-wave
solar radiation absorbed by Earth’s surface to reradiate from the surface and escape into space.
The CO2 absorbs upward-propagating infrared radiation and reemits a portion of it downward,
causing the lower atmosphere to remain warmer than it would otherwise be. This phenomenon
has the effect of enhancing Earth’s natural greenhouse effect, producing what scientists refer
to as anthropogenic (human-generated) global warming. There is substantial evidence that
higher concentrations of CO2 and other greenhouse gases have contributed greatly to the
increase of Earth’s near-surface mean temperature since 1950.

Citation Information
Article Title: petroleum
Website Name: Encyclopaedia Britannica
Publisher: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Date Published: 28 November 2022
URL: https://www.britannica.comhttps://www.britannica.com/science/petroleum
Access Date: January 09, 2023

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