Controversial essay Kyoto Protocol

Essay by whatwhatcaptainHigh School, 10th grade February 2006

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While the causes and effects of Global Warming are still being studied, the emission of greenhouse gases is still negatively affecting the earth. Contamination from the burning of fossil fuels is ruining biomes in the world, and our population of humans needs to do something to clean up our act. The Kyoto Protocol is a measure that will preserve our natural resources, promote the clean industry, and drastically cut back on greenhouse gas emissions.

Sometime in the future, when our entire planet is on fire, we will realize the mistakes we are making right now. However, until then we are forced to live in the present and deal with the compromising situations of global warming. Knowing from scientific research done by that global warming is a reality we can only guess at how long we will be able to inhabit earth the way we do now. The IPCC has climate models that "anticipate a warming of 1.4

°C to 5.8 °C between 1990 and 2100." Thinking preventively, we must slow the process, by any means available, which would mean the United States conforming to the Kyoto Protocol.

According to the EIA(Energy Information Administration), the U.S. produced "5,796 million metric tons (of CO2)" while China produced "3,541 million metric tons." The U.S. is the number one producer while China is second. China is exempt from Kyoto protocols because it is a "developing country", and the U.S. has yet to ratify the Kyoto Protocol because it is wary of the limitations, and the fact that it may stint industrial growth. That is even more reason to ratify it, and even more incentive to speed the process of slowing down emissions.

There is opposition to the Kyoto Protocol from big business that would suffer from not being able to produce mass amounts of...