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Thursday, March 10, 2011

GLOBAL WARMING (4)

Controlling global warming

Total consumption of fossil fuels in the world increased by 1 percent per year. The measures carried out or being discussed at this time there is nothing to prevent global warming in the future. The current challenge is to overcome the effects that arise while carrying out the steps to prevent further climate change in the future.

Severe damage could be solved with a variety of ways. Coastal areas can be protected by walls and barriers to prevent entry of sea water. Alternatively, governments can help the population on the coast to move to higher ground. Some countries, such as the United States, to save plants and animals while maintaining the corridor (line) habitat, clearing land for construction from south to north. Species can gradually move along this corridor to go to a colder habitat.

There are two main approaches to slow down the increasing greenhouse gases. First, prevent the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by storing the gas or its carbon component somewhere else. This is called carbon sequestration (removal of carbon). Second, reducing greenhouse gas production.

Eliminate carbon

The easiest way to remove carbon dioxide in the air is to maintain trees and plant more trees. Trees, especially young and fast growing, absorb carbon dioxide very much, break through photosynthesis and store carbon in wood. Around the world, the rate of forest encroachment has reached an alarming level. In many areas, plants that grow back a bit once because the soil loses its fertility when converted to other uses, such as for agriculture or residential development. Steps to overcome this is to reforestation that play a role in reducing the increasing greenhouse gases.



Carbon dioxide gas can also be eliminated directly. You do this by injecting (injecting) the gas into oil wells to push for oil out to the surface. Injections can also be done to isolate this gas under the ground such as in oil wells, coal seams or aquifer. This has been done in one of Norway's offshore drilling platform, where carbon dioxide has been dragged to the surface with natural gas was captured and injected back into the aquifer so it can not go back to the surface.

One source of supply of carbon dioxide is the burning of fossil fuels. The use of fossil fuels began to increase rapidly since the industrial revolution in the 18th century. At that time, coal became the dominant energy source for later replaced by oil in the mid-19th century. In the 20th century, began regular gas energy used worldwide as a source of energy. The change trend of the use of fossil fuels is actually indirectly reduced the amount of carbon dioxide released into the air, because the gas releases less carbon dioxide compared to oil especially when compared with coal. However, the use of renewable energy and more nuclear energy to reduce the release of carbon dioxide into the air. Nuclear energy, although controversial because of safety reasons and disposal of hazardous, even does not release carbon dioxide at all.

International Approvals

International cooperation is needed to succeed in reducing greenhouse gases. In 1992, at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 150 countries pledged to confront the problem of greenhouse gases and agreed to translate this intention in a binding contract. In 1997 in Japan, 160 countries formulate a stronger agreement known as the Kyoto Protocol.

This agreement, which has not been implemented, calls for the 38 industrialized countries that hold the greatest percentage in the release of greenhouse gases to cut their emissions to levels 5 percent below emissions in 1990. This reduction should be achieved no later than 2012. At first, the United States volunteered to do the cutting the more ambitious, promising reduced emissions to 7 percent below 1990 levels; the European Union, which wants a tougher agreement, committed 8 percent and Japan 6 percent. The remaining 122 countries, most developing countries, was not asked to commit in the reduction of gas emissions.

However, in 2001, a new U.S. president-elect, George W. Bush announced that an agreement for carbon dioxide reduction is a very large cost. He also denied by stating that developing countries are not burdened with the requirements of this reduction in carbon dioxide. Kyoto Protocol does not affect anything if the industrialized countries responsible for contributing 55 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in 1990 was not ratified it. The requirements were successfully met when in 2004, Russian President Vladimir Putin to ratify this treaty, provides a way for this agreement began February 16, 2005.

Many people criticized the Kyoto Protocol too weak. Even if the agreement is implemented soon, it will only slightly reduce the increased concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. A tough action will be required later on, especially since developing countries are excluded from this agreement will produce half the emissions of greenhouse gases in 2035. Opponents of this protocol has a very strong position. The rejection of this treaty in the United States mainly put forward by the oil industry, coal industry and other companies whose production depends on fossil fuels. Opponents claim that the economic costs required to implement the Kyoto Protocol to menjapai 300 billion U.S. dollars, mainly due to energy costs. In contrast the Kyoto Protocol advocates believe that it cost only by 88 billion U.S. dollars and can be more or less again, and returned in the form of saving money after a change to the equipment, vehicles, and industrial processes more efficient.

In a country with strict environmental policy, the economy can continue to grow in spite of various kinds of pollution have been reduced. However, to limit emissions of carbon dioxide proved difficult. For example, the Netherlands, a country which is also a big industrialist environmental pioneer, has managed to overcome various kinds of pollution but has failed to meet its target of reducing carbon dioxide production.

After 1997, the representatives of the Kyoto Protocol signatories meet regularly to negotiate the issues unresolved, such as rules, methods and penalties that must be applied in every country to slow greenhouse gas emissions. The negoisator designing a system whereby a country that has a successful cleaning program can take advantage by selling unused pollution rights to other countries. This system is called carbon trading. For example, a country that is difficult to increase again the results, such as the Netherlands, could buy pollution credits on the market, which can be obtained with a lower cost. Russia, a country who benefit when the system is applied. In 1990, Russia's economy is in serious trouble and greenhouse gas emissions is very high. Since then Russia succeeded in cutting its emissions by more than 5 percent below 1990 levels, he is in a position to sell emission credits to other industrialized countries, especially those in the European Union.


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