Global Warming Essay -- Greenhouse Effect Climate Change

Global Warming The humanity is currently facing one of its biggest problems ever. Indeed, the Earth is warming and consequences might be devastating for the future generations. There is a general agreement among scientists that Earth's climate is being affected by industrial society. Industry affects global climate by releasing greenhouse gases (GHGs). The most significant GHG is carbon dioxide (CO2). While some GHGs occur naturally, others are released in the atmosphere by certain human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation activities and some agricultural practices. These activities affect climate by increasing the so-called 'greenhouse effect'. GHGs concentrate in the Earth's atmosphere and trap heat by blocking some of the long-wave energy the Earth normally radiates back to space. The effect is weather and climate changes. The potential consequences include more extreme weather, dislocation of agricultural and commercial activities, expansion of desert regions, a rise i n sea levels, and damaged natural habitats and ecosystems. All of these threaten the natural capital that provides the economy's resource base. Mankind pours more than 6 billion tons of carbon dioxide each year. If nothing is done, the total is expected to be 20 billion tons by 2050. Therefore, we must act now. Since the 1980's the global concern about climate change has been rising and politics have begun to address the issue through international co-operation. Nation states have set ambitious goals through the Kyoto protocol, but international regulation is not an easy thing and the structure that rules it is perhaps not well adapted for the issue of Climate Change. Even if the regulations are not yet finalised, some companies recognise business reasons to reduce GHG emissions, which go beyond the obvious concern of protecting the natural environment. The Gilette Company is one of those that have taken measures to use energy in an efficient manner. The first international conference on environment and development was the 'Rio Earth Summit' in 1992, where the United Nations Framework Convention on climate Change (UNFCCC) was created. Today, 181 governments and the European Union (EU) are parties to the Convention. They meet regularly at the annual Conference of the Parties (COP), where they review the implementation of the Convention and continue talk... ... Web sites  · www.guardian.co.uk  · www.lemonde.fr  · www.sovereignty.net  · www.unfccc.org  · www.ipcc.ch  · www.bsr.org  · www.gilette.com (1998 Report on the Environment, Health and Safety) Books  · French, Hillary, 2000. Coping with ecological globalization (State of the world 2000)  · White, Brian Richard Little, and Michael Smith, 1997. Issues in World Politics, Chap. 11: Vogler, John. Environment and Natural Resources. London: MacMillan Press Ltd Articles  · Elliot, Larry. 'After the failure of international nerve at The Hague, it is surely time to set up new global institutions'. The Guardian, Nov. 29, 2000  · O'Neill Packard, K. and Reinhardt, F. 'What every executive needs to know about Global Warming'. Harvard Business Review, July-August 2000. pp. 129-135  · 'On Thin Ice - Cold feet and hot air on Global Warming'. World Press Review, February 2001: - Petitjean, Gerard. 'The 21st Century: Hot, Hot, Hot'. Le Nouvel Observateur, Paris, France, Nov. 23, 2000. - Radford, Tim. 'A Grim Picture'. The Guardian, London, England, Nov. 15, 2000. - Joku, Harlyne. 'Sea Levels Rising'. Gemini News Service, London, England, Nov. 3, 2000.