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Global Warming and the Kyoto Protocol Essay

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Global Warming and the Kyoto Protocol

Environmental issues are becoming a growing concern for the world as well as for the world's leaders. Pollution, littering and the burning of fossil fuels are all problems that have drastically affected humans over the past few years. Impure drinking water, radiation, less ecological diversity and cancer are a few of such harms that the world has experienced. However, one of the most prominent concerns is the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect, a natural occurrence, is turning deadly with the introduction of humans and carbon emissions and is slowly heating up the world. In future years this could cause catastrophic consequences. Rising global temperatures threatens the very existence of the …show more content…

The protocol specifies five gases other than carbon dioxide which need to be reduced. These greenhouse gases (methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride) are generally referred to as carbon dioxide equivalents. These six gases, including carbon dioxide, are widely blamed for the increased intensity of the greenhouse effect. What happens is that, as the sun's rays hit the earth they are either absorbed or reflected. The ones that are absorbed heat the earth which cause it to emit infrared radiation. The infrared radiation travels into the atmosphere where these greenhouse gases trap it, making it unable to escape our atmosphere. Thus, the air becomes hotter and temperatures all over the world can rise. It may not appear to be of great concern, but an increase in temperature as small as five degrees can be devastating for humans. Some of the main concerns regarding a temperature rise are, the rising of the sea levels which will lead to island and coastline areas to be swallowed up by water, plants and animals will no longer be able to live in their given environments and insects will thrive which will cause the spread of disease. If world leaders though it was hard to come to an agreement regarding carbon emissions, imagine trying to come up with a solution to what would inevitably happen if environmental issues such as this

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