The Kyoto Protocol And Its Effect On Our Earth

The UNFCCC is working with the various governments around the world to stabilize the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere to keep the planet from warming more than 2ºC above pre-industrial temperatures (Watts, 2015). The most noted of the work is the annual Conference of the Parties (COP) meetings that began with COP1 in Berlin back in 1995. The COP3 adopted the Kyoto Protocol, even though it wasn’t fully accepted by all member nations. The COP21 was an effort to legally bind members to their submitted plans of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), defining what level of greenhouse gas production each nation would commit to not exceeding from 2025-2030. Prior to the INDCs, a bleak outlook was forecast in 2009-2010 of global temperature rising between 4-5ºC. That figure was restated by the UNFCCC prior to the COP21 in Paris, to below 3ºC, due to the commitments of the INDCs (Watts, 2015).

The advent of industrialized civilization has brought to us many remarkable feats that enhance our everyday lives. Such things as automobiles, airplanes, tractors, mainframe computers, and even relatively simple machines like lawnmowers have intertwined themselves into the everyday culture of modern day industrialized countries.. These products have provided us enormous benefits compared to the types of lives our ancestors used to live. In the eyes of some, the consequences of industrial activities that have evolved around the world will not pose any problems in the future, however as most have realized, this is not true. Contemporary production processes use fossil fuels such as

“Scientists have been warning about global warming for decades. It's too late to stop it now, but we can lessen its severity and impacts” - David Suzuki. Global warming, a primary topic of debate in various conversations throughout all levels of government, has been an issue for countless years. In fact, of the 134 years recorded, the 10 warmest years have all occurred “since 2000, with the exception of 1998 “(NASA). Solving a global issue such as this is not as easy as it may seem; however ,The Paris Agreement vows to do just that by setting a plan to limit global warming to well below 2°C in “the first-ever universal, legally binding global climate deal” (Europa). Before signing off on such an agreement one must analyze the many negatives

Canada’s commitment to the Kyoto Protocol was a relatively short-lived deal met with plenty of controversy that saw opposition and support. The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty that extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits countries to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions based on the assumption that global warming exists and man-made CO2 emissions are the contributing factor (Kyoto Protocol 1997). When the Liberal party lost the 2006 elections to the Conservative party, Canada had already gone back on its promise of a country-wide movement, undoing any progress towards its Kyoto goals (Canada and

However, there is another route to respond to Global Warming according to Bjorn Lomborg. Lomborg states “Instead of putting expensive caps on carbon emissions, we should immediately spend more money on researching and developing alternative energy. These include renewable sources of energy like wind, solar, geothermal, and wave.” (Lomborg, 2009, p. 105)

On December 15, 2011, the Government of Canada authoritatively told the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that Canada would practice its legitimate right to formally pull back from the Kyoto Protocol. The Environment Minister, Peter Kent, was the one who announced this. The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement connected to the UNFCCC that sets internationally binding greenhouse gas reduction targets for each country that is in the agreement. There are a lot of benefits as to why Canada should stay in the agreement, but at the same time there are a few complications and setbacks that we will have to face as well. Canada will reduce the amount of greenhouse gases, save money and create jobs, and reduce drastic

Bill mcKibben sends us a compelling message through this book.He believes that human beings have created a new planet which is unrecognizable, a place called EAARTH.Twenty years ago he had published The End of Nature which speaks about the greenhouse effect.It was too early to see any change back then. Now, the change is evident.We face a potential threat which could mostly likely lead to the demise of our planet. GLOBAL WARMING or more likely a global warning.Despite his efforts to warn people about climate change, McKibben feels it is too late now to take action. He targets every aspect of our support system for life on Earth right from melting glaciers to the internet. On reading this book, I realized the impact of global warming, the alarming

Usually when you read dystopian novels they take place far into the future or on a different planet, something Orwellian. We as a society, like to think this is what will happen if we continue to behave a certain way. Since the projections in these novels and pieces are so farfetched, nobody ever stops to compare it to the world today. However, Bill McKibben, author of Eaarth, states the harsh realities of the world’s current condition and the devious schemes of wealthy corporations. Global warming is perhaps the most frequent issue televised about the world today. It’s known that this ‘climate change’ is a product of greenhouse gases and the burning of fossil fuels; something of which is done by humans. Solutions and conservation strategies have been

A few proposed approaches to global warming that Lomborg believes are problematic revolve around to the extent we believe global warming is impacting us. According to Lomborg the longterm effects of global warming will be mostly negative however we are facing many more pressing issues rather than expending resources on the more minor effects of global warming. Lomborg finds an issue with the way environmentalists are pushing this global warming fear by using both data and statistics to show that the global environment was improving and that temperatures have been higher in the distant pasts all these claims that we are hurting our planet by causing things such as rising sea levels and threating extinction to polar bears are misrepresenting

On Earth Day 2015, the article “Nature Does Not Negotiate,” by Howard Lyman (also known as the “Mad Cowboy”) was published in response to the increasing fear of global warming and the drastic changes in climate change. As a famer, vegan, current President of Voice for a Viable Future, and a speaker/lecturer on the behalf of saving the earth, Howard Lyman’s purpose is to educate people, in order to protect the future of this Earth, on the consequences we will face if we continue to commit actions that harm Earth. Providing the context necessary for understanding the situation and the problem the world is facing and organizing the article in a manner in which he includes relevant and convincing

Although the Kyoto Protocol had the right intentions with the desire to lower greenhouse gases, however, lowering gas emissions would hinder the economy for many of the nations without a proper substitution or solution. This is a proposal that would not sit well with many of nations; especially since the nations did not all agree climate change. The Kyoto Protocol would produce concentrated costs because lowering gas emissions would affect nations differently, and in addition to that, there would exist a distribution of benefits because not all nations would benefit equally because their polluted atmospheres vary. With a proposal that could hinder the progress of they industry, “both economics and politics deal with problems of scarcity and conflicting preferences” in which nations would rather support the economy than take a risk at an opportunity to help the atmosphere (Wilson 363). The Kyoto Protocol falls under the categorization as entrepreneurial politics where the overall conclusion contains distributed benefits and concentrated

recent years, the population of Quebec has shown increasing awareness and concerns for the protection of the environment . Like all the industrialized nations on the planet, Quebec, and more generally Canada, produces huge amounts of greenhouse gas, which have terrible effects on the planet. The Kyoto protocol, ratified in 1997, is the initiative for Governments around the world to act in favor of the reduction of GHG emission. Furthermore, the Government of Quebec has taken action to promote a greener way lifestyle by subsidizing many environmentally friendly initiatives. Special matter was accorded to transportation, which accounts for 42.5% of emissions of GHG in Quebec. Transportation is thus the biggest emitter sector and should be

This paper is a detailed interpretation of the movie The Day After Tomorrow. I will be thoroughly going through this movie and how it connects with my personal philosophy of nature. This movie is a representation of Global Warming and the drastic effects that it can have on this Earth. Although the movie might be greatly over-exaggerated, it is meant to stir the audience and conjure up emotions and feelings of wanting to change. I would never want to see the world come to that much turmoil, which is why there is an urgency to act now before we see our world destroyed. The paper will include my thoughts on the movie, other writer’s contributions of thoughts on the movie and global warming, my personal philosophy of nature and how we can redeem ourselves from our influences towards global warming.

Opening/Attention: Have you ever heard or the saying “the world is coming to an end”? Has it ever crossed your mind that this statement could be true? Scientists claim every so often that the world will end due to natural causes. Even though years have passed and nothing dramatically has occurred, slowly and slowly, the world is dying. Everyday millions of animals are going extinct, due to natural causes. Global warming and climate change refer to an increase in average global temperatures. Natural events and human activities are believed to be contributing to an increase in average global temperatures. This is all because the world is increasingly changing, and one by one, nothing and no one will be left. Did you ever wonder about how the earth looked before? Did it ever cross your mind that earth could have been way healthier before the world’s population increased. I am here to talk to you about more interesting facts, causes, reasons to help and the future outcomes to understand that for future generations children won 't be able to witness what you have due to the seriousness of this issue.

Potential climate risks avoided include more severe weather patterns, abnormal ecosystems, less biodiversity, less drinkable water, loss of coastal areas from rising sea levels, rises in temperature, and the increased incidence of infectious diseases such as malaria and yellow fever. On the other hand, climate change might benefit agriculture and forestry by increasing productivity with longer growing seasons and more fertilization. Also, the Kyoto Protocol neglects economic as well as scientific realities; therefore, qualifies as a fundamentally flawed treaty. The Kyoto protocol relies on governments applying tax and regulatory measures that require companies to send out lower volumes of greenhouse gases. This action would raise production costs and result in lower earnings for greenhouse gas-generating activities. An emission rights "market" created by the Kyoto protocol would reduce earnings further. Due to the purchase of emission rights involving an additional cost, profitable production will be lower. These rights risk becoming increasingly expensive as time goes on since the aim of the protocol is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Companies will find these rights increasingly hard to purchase. With the restraints enforced by the Kyoto conditions, some companies will be unable to support losses from investments with no payback and costs required by new spending on "greenhouse friendly" technologies. In addition to this struggle, are the costs resulting from the fact that resources redirected to meet the protocol; several hundred billion dollars a year will not be available for companies to invest, or individuals to spend on other more beneficial projects. Despite global warming and climate change being a major issue, the economic sacrifices outweigh the benefits of reduced greenhouse gas emissions due to major countries not taking the Kyoto protocol