action for the future

What are the world governments doing to help ?

As can be seen by the example on CFC's / Chlorofluorocarbon when the worlds governments are united in solving environmental issues they can make a difference . So why have we not seen the same commitment on the issue of Global Warming ? An agreement called the Kyoto agreement was signed by 160 nations of the world in 1997 which should have had an impact on global warming and a lot of hype was made that it would if not solve the problem, at least help for the future. Unlike the agreement on CFC emission and production, it required a major shift in the use of fossil fuels for energy production / manufacturing and the use of oil in the worlds cars .

Although politicians appeared to state in public that they were committed to decreasing emissions they did not follow up with those commitments and found ways around the original idea by bartering with emissions to date few nations have truly honoured the commitments that were made . The Kyoto agreement in essence should have forced the westernised world to reduce emissions but it has not . The American government for example does not intend to abide by the agreement because the current president ( George W Bush ) does not agree with the original theories of cause and effects of Global Warming. The UK prime minister ( Tony Blair ) although publicly is committed has not provided resources or leadership to match the targets. These are not the only countries to not match Kyoto expectations with actual decreases only examples.

Possible Further Implications in the future

There is one additional problem that makes the problem even worse, in the last 50 years most of the pollution has been caused by the western world due to their wealth and industrial power. In the next 20 years some of the countries who have the highest populations could start to move closer in terms of consumption and the need for energy ( China and India as 2 examples ).

If we consider that the overall temperature has increased .6 degrees C the predictions with the increased industrialisation and continuing on the current path the temperature will increase by between 1.4 degrees C and 5.8 degrees Centigrade.

We could also see major extremes of intensity in changing weather including storms hurricanes and some areas turning into deserts.

There could be posotive effects such as , food production in areas where none was possible before And farming could become more efficient due to better growing conditions

Scientists are split on whether global warming is caused by man and many point to earlier times in earths history before man ruled the earth , and say that there was an ice age and most of the earth was sub tropical climate.

What can we as individuals do to help ?

• Try to drive more efficient cars and use public transport when possible

• Make our homes as energy efficient as possible by blocking drafts

• Don't waste electricity by leaving lights on when not needed

• When buying new appliances, try to buy energy efficient ones

• Take time and effort to support recycling

• Support some of the environmentall charities

• Let your government representatives know your opinions, that our environment and global warming are important to you as an individual