What is done about Global Warming

Research

The majority of scientists think that the climate will become warmer as a consequence of the immission in the atmosphere of greenhouse gases, such as CO2, CH4, CFC, and others. There are aconsiderable differences of opinion about how quickly the warming will occur and about the consequences on the local level.

There have been several international meeting of scientists in the late 1980s that alerted the scientific community and eventually th epublic at large abou the foreseen consequences of an increase of greenhouse gases in the next 100 years.

Political Actions

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (Cal.), Chairman of the House Science Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment: "Nowhere is scientific nonsense more evident than in global warming programs" (Chem.Eng.News, Jan15 96)

Scientists from all over the world gathered under the auspices of the United NAtions. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climatic Change (IPCC) issued a report in 1990 with the following forecast: If no action is taken, or "business as usual":

  • Warming of 0.3 C/decade
  • 6 cm/decade sea-level rise
    • A total of three working groups looked at the science, impact on society , and the response nations should consider to stem the worse consequences of the predicted global climatic changes associated with the process of global warming)

    The United Nations promoted the Framework Convention 0n Climatic Change (1992). In 1993 it was ratified by 50 states, making it binding for all memebers. It started to take into effect in 1994. According to the Framework, different set of responsabilities were considered for developed vs. underdeveloped countries. FLexible targets were designed to avoid placing too onerous a hardship on countries on their way to industrialization. Developed countries were encouraged to share with underdeveloped countries key technology for pollution control and more efficient use of energy resources.

    It was also recommended the return to CO2 - equivalent emissions of 1990 by 2000.

    The following measures are recommended d in order to meet the target of the Framework Convention: devote resources to: re-forestation, fixing of pipeline leaks. recovering of methane from landfills, reduction in emissions from vehicles.

    The current status (1996) is as follows: 5 countries are likely to meet the C02 stabilization target (D, UK, NL, DK, SW) . The U.S. will miss target on CO2 emissions (by over 5%) due to a stronger economy and weak energy prices (from non-renewable sources). This latter economic factor has effectively increased the amount of driving and the purchase of bigger cars, sports-utility vehicles, and light trucks, all of which consume significantly larger amounts of gasoline than subcompact and compact cars.