As of right now, emissions from human activities have .
altered the earths chemistry, have resulted in climate change due to the greenhouse .
effect, increased exposure to ultraviolet rays due to ozone depletion, and acid rain .
precipitation. Political leaders around the world have taken up research and development .
in the case for earth preservation and have had some conflicting views as how to go about .
solving the problem. At the front of the debate for earth preservation is the concept of .
global warming. Despite mounting evidence that supports the increase in global .
temperature, there are also equal amounts of evidence that suggests the opposite.
Carbon dioxide, which is emitted largely by combustion of fossil fuels, is the .
most influential human-made greenhouse gas. As the atmosphere becomes richer in these .
gases, it becomes a better insulator, retaining more of the heat provided to the planet by .
the Sun. If emissions of carbon dioxide were halted today, it would take more than a .
century for the atmospheric level of carbon dioxide to approach its pre-industrial level. .
Human induced warming is more rapid than what occurs naturally. This in turn would .
cause many plant and animals to have difficult adjusting to the change. It also affects the .
rise and fall of the ocean sea-levels (glacial melt) and could affect low-lying countries .
with flooding.
In 1997,160 nations reached an agreement concerning the use of fossil fuels and .
the emission of CO into the earths atmosphere. Called the Kyoto Protocol, it required 39 .
industrial nations to limit their annual emissions to an average of 7 percentage points over .
the course of four years. Many of these nations were influenced by large businesses .
and corporations that opposed the treaty. They hired their own scientists who found .
evidence that there was no need to limit emissions. Deep emission reductions, according .
to them, would lower energy usage by 25 to 35 percent and that the economic costs .