Changing Climate to Global Warming
The climate is changing. The earth is warming up, and there is now overwhelming scientific consensus that it is happening, and human-induced. With global warming on the increase and species and their habitats on the decrease, chances for ecosystems to adapt naturally are diminishing. Many are agreed that climate change may be one of the greatest threats facing the planet. Recent years show increasing temperatures in various regions, and/or increasing extremities in weather patterns. What is Global Warming and Climate Change? 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 caused primarily by increases in “greenhouse” gases such as Carbon Dioxide (CO2).
The impacts of Global Warming are, Rapid changes in global temperature, Extreme Weather Patterns, Rising Sea Levels, Increase in Pests and Disease, Failing Agricultural Output; Increase in World Hunger.
The United States is the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases. It:
• Accounts for roughly four percent of the world’s population;
• Accounts for approximately 23% of global emissions and 42% of industrialized country emissions.
The previously 15 member-nations European Union (E.U.), if considered as a whole (for it is more comparable to the U.S.):
• Accounts for roughly 3 percent of the world’s population;
• Accounts for around 10% of global emissions and 24% of industrialized countries’ man-made emissions of the six main gases.
Research has shown that air pollutants from fossil fuel use make clouds reflect more of the sun’s rays back into space. This leads to an effect known as global dimming whereby less heat and energy reaches the earth. At first, it sounds like an ironic savior to climate change problems. However, it is believed that global dimming caused the droughts in Ethiopia in the 1970s and 80s where millions died, because the northern hemisphere oceans were not warm enough to allow rain formation. Global dimming is also hiding the true power of global warming. By cleaning up global dimming-causing pollutants without tackling greenhouse gas emissions, rapid warming has been observed, and various human health and ecological disasters have resulted, as witnessed during the European heat wave in 2003, which saw thousands of people die. A growing concern from developing countries and various NGOs is the need for public participation and the effect on populations and poor countries that global warming negotiations have. The impacts of climate change will be felt on the world’s poorest countries the most. In some cases, climate changes have already affected some small island nations. Climate justice, equity and sustainable development are all important parts of this debate that are often left out of mainstream discourse. Equal rights to the atmosphere for all human beings and equity within and between nations are paramount.
An agreed principle was that of common but different responsibilities. That is, when the world’s majority countries signed up to climate change Convention (including countries like the US who would later withdraw from the subsequent Kyoto Protocol) it was agreed that it is today’s rich nations who are the ones responsible for global warming as greenhouse gases tend to remain in the atmosphere for many decades, and rich countries have been industrializing and emitting climate changing pollution for many more centuries than the poor countries.