Fossil fuel production and consumption began with coal—its first recorded uses date back as far as 4000 BC in China, where carvings were made from black lignite (one of the several forms of coal).¹. However, large-scale coal combustion is typically associated with the period around the start of the Industrial Revolution. The visualization shows global consumption of fossil fuels—coal, oil, and gas—from 1800 onward. Overall, we see that global consumption of fossil energy has increased more than 1,300-fold. As shown, coal was the first and only fossil fuel source until the 1860s, when crude oil consumption began. Natural gas production began a couple of decades later, in the 1880s and 1890s.