Global Warming: What Can We Do About the Greenhouse Effect and Harmful Emissions?

Is the World Really Warming or Not?

Lora Kaisler
The United States has an opportunity, the very last one, in 2008 to return our planet to its natural state. Americans will vote for a new President. The current administration under the leadership of Harlan Watson, State Department Bureau, says the US is taking a three-prong approach to addressing climate change. Of those three prongs: reduce greenhouse gas emissions, prepare for future action, and cooperate with international efforts, only the first states that the US must act in any substantial manner. Our future hangs in the balance.

Thanks to the Clinton administration and the state of California, emission standards were extended to include some larger vehicles. This has reduced pollution due to automotive exhaust. However, it allowed the current administration to ignore the issue because minimum levels of compliance with established policy for reducing greenhouse emissions were already being met.

Preparing for the future sounds nice, but it doesn't mean anything measurable has to actually happen.

As for cooperating with international efforts, the current U.S. policy is viewed by the rest of the world as blind and ignorant at worst, naive at best. The G8 summit consensus was to plea for the largest countries in the world to lead efforts in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. President Bush responded that he would not sign the agreement citing the Kyoto Protocol of 1997 as his reason. International agreements are extremely difficult to arrange. Any mutual effort, even if it may not be sufficient to remedy a situation completely, is worth contributing to, if only to show our concern for humanity and willingness to work together. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency believes we must act now or the process of global warming will be irreversible.

According to the National Center for Atmospheric Research the world is getting warmer. Even a change in temperature of less than a degree dramatically alters the foundation upon which our entire ecological system stands. Weather changes and disasters increase. Have you noticed the increase in hurricanes, volcanoes, tsunami, and earthquakes recently? The ozone layer of our atmosphere, which protects the planet from ultraviolet light (UV rays from the sun), is developing holes. This radiation is the leading cause of skin cancer as well as genetic damage to all living things. At present, holes in the ozone layer cause the "greenhouse effect", heating the earth. This leads to increased smog alerts, and even human death (usually of the aged who do not have air conditioning). The polar ice caps are measurably melting, dooming animal habitats to extinction and leaking our greatest source of fresh water into the salty seas.

World efforts are strong through international conferences concerned with global warming, its causes and its solutions. The administration knows about these efforts; this information was obtained from a U.S. government website. Opportunity exists for America to actually be the leader it proclaims to be. In order to do so, citizens must elect officials that support scientists, by granting them the financial and political wherewithal to make a difference.

Published by Lora Kaisler

For a complete resume and personal interest biography, see my resume website at http://lkaisler.com.   View profile

  • U.S. policy is to reduce emissions, prepare for the future, and cooperate internationally.
  • The current administration has done nothing substantial to improve ecologic conditions.
  • If we don't change now, the process will be irreversible.
The global ice caps are melting at a rapid pace, reducing habitat and our greatest source of fresh water.

14 Comments

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  • Sanjay Bhatt Commander 1/16/2009

    Plastic Bag have been BANNED , but it is the DUTY of every CITIZEN of DELHI to
    Implement the ORDER and not to behave
    like an ECO TERRORIST ...
    STOP PLASTICBAG please

  • kollooi 12/15/2008

    well i dont care at all

  • S. BHATT DELHI 11/1/2008

    PLASTIC BAG BANNED IN NEW DELHI , BUT GOVT FAILS TO IMPLEMENT

    ALL ENVIRONMENTALIST ARE REQ TO FORCE GOVT OF DELHI TO '' STOP PLASTIC BAG ''

    COMMANDER '' ECHOS ''

  • shane 9/28/2008

    its not yet too late for us. Kets make constuctive moves.

  • Altaf .A. Naje 6/16/2008

    Dear Mam,
    First i wud like to compliment u for doing a good job towards awareness abt global warming.

    I just happen to across ur article abt ur research on Global Warming.I am a student from Mumbai University, in Field of GIS.I am very keen on working on the project of Global Warming and trying to search for the data on the same.my idea is basically to prepare a graphical project on global warmingin GIS so that the intensity of the topic can be brought into loght to a comman who is unaware abt the intensity of the situation.
    can u plz help me in giving references sites for the data.
    regards,
    altaf
    altaf_naje@yahoo.co.in or altaf_naze@rediffmail.com

  • cdr sanjay bhatt 6/9/2008

    09 jun 2008 MUMBAI
    The first showers of pre monsoon rains have FLOODED MUMBAI
    LOW LYING AREAS even in low tides .

    PLASTICWASTE is choking mumbai darins today , instead
    of blaming HIGH tide , gvt OF MUMBAI should BAN PLASTICBAG TODAY

    STOP PLASTIC WASTE

  • cdr sanjay bhatt 6/9/2008

    09 jun 2008 MUMBAI
    The first showers of pre monsoon rains have FLOODED MUMBAI
    LOW LYING AREAS even in low tides .

    PLASTICWASTE is choking mumbai darins today , instead
    of blaming HIGH tide , gvt OF MUMBAI should BAN PLASTICBAG TODAY

    STOP PLASTIC WASTE

  • Stacy Simone 2/23/2008

    Yes, people from all walks of life must come together to reforms our way of living from the bottom up!

  • Caeleigh 10/31/2007

    I as well am doing a reasearch paper on the greenhouse effect and what are the effects of it. I am including both sides of thought to the harmful effects and thoughts on the fact if the global warming theory is correct or not. I personally do not agree with global warming. But thank you for this article it helped me to fairly introduce both sides and that is important.

  • valeria 10/21/2007

    I am currently doing a research paper about global warming and I was surprise to encounter a vast of problems related to this matter.I really hope that we can find some type of solution to at least decrease the harm we are causing our environment.


    Sincerely,
    valeria Martinez
    lindabebe_92@hotmmail.com

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