The Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty to
curb the greenhouse gases that cause climate change, took effect
last month. More than 125 nations — including Canada, Japan,
the members of the European Union, and a host of developing
countries — ratified the protocol. The treaty requires 35
developed nations, with varying targets, to reduce their
greenhouse-gas emissions to levels below those of 1990 by 2012.
Unfortunately, the United States refused to ratify the treaty.
Government and professional science groups
around the world — including the World Meteorological
Organization, the United Nations-organized Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change, and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences
— have concluded with growing concern that the earth’s
surface is warming. They believe most of the warming over the last
50 years is the result of human activity. The chief cause of global
warming, carbon dioxide, is released when we drive our cars, burn
fossil fuels to produce electricity, or heat our homes with oil or
natural gas. Greenhouse gases act as a blanket, trapping the
sun’s heat and causing the planet to heat up.
Much evidence points to a gradual warming of
the earth. Temperature readings taken around the world in recent
decades, as well as scientific studies of tree rings, corals, and
ice cores, indicate that the average global temperature has
increased by about one degree Fahrenheit since the Industrial
Revolution began. The 1990s were the hottest decade of the entire
century, and 1998, 2001, and 2002 were three of the hottest years
ever recorded.
The impacts of global warming will vary from place to place, but if current climate trends
continue, we will likely see altered weather patterns that may
bring unusually intense precipitation or droughts and more severe
storms. Warmer temperatures will increase the ranges of mosquitoes
and other troublesome pests. Melting glaciers and expanding volumes
of seawater from warmer ocean temperatures will raise sea levels,
leading to more coastal erosion and flooding during storms. Warmer
winters could mean reduced snowpack for some regions, shrinking
water supplies.
Although the Kyoto Protocol is an important
first step in addressing global warming, it is far from perfect.
Deeper cuts in global emissions will be necessary. The challenge
for the next round of climate negotiations will be to forge a new
plan to cover 2012 and beyond that requires binding commitments by
all the major producers of greenhouse gases. This includes China,
India, Australia, and the United States, none of which is covered
by Kyoto’s emission targets.
Several years ago, some of the world’s largest corporations — including Shell
International, DuPont, BP, Ontario Power Generation, and Alcan of
Canada — took a hard look at the climate-change evidence and
recognized their responsibility to act. They launched programs to curb
emissions, conserve energy, and use renewable-energy technologies such
as wind and solar power. These companies have remained profitable and
in some cases actually saved money by investing in cleaner technologies
and processes.
Their actions will help fight global warming,
but you can also have an impact. This doesn’t mean giving up
the comforts of home. It means making energy-wise choices. This may
require an additional investment up front, but often the cost
difference will be paid back over time through lower energy bills.
For example, when it comes time to buy your
next car, pick the most fuel-efficient vehicle in its class.
Consider new technologies such as the hybrid engine. Each gallon of
gas you burn releases 20 pounds of carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere.
When replacing old appliances, look for the
most efficient models available with the Energy Star label. You can
also use Energy Guide labels to compare the efficiency of specific
models. Refrigerators, freezers, furnaces, air conditioners, and
water heaters use the most household energy. Finally, replace your
light bulbs with more efficient compact fluorescents. They will
last longer and decrease your energy bills by about $15 a year.
Although these actions may seem small, they
can add up. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, if
every household in the United States replaced one regular light
bulb with an energy-saving model, we could reduce global warming
pollution by more than 90 billion pounds, the equivalent of
removing 7.5 million cars from the road.
These steps to slow global warming are common
sense, and you can take part in them to make a difference in the
health of our planet.
This article appears in Mar 10-16, 2005.
