Thursday, March 31, 2011

Summary & Evaluation

Summary
Global warming has become possibly the most complicated  issue facing world leaders today.  On one hand, warnings from the scientific "communities" are becoming louder, as an increase in science evidence points to rising dangers from the ongoing buildup of human related greenhouse gases.  On the other hand, the technological, economic and political issues have to be resolved, before a worldwide effort to reduce emmisions can begin to get any easier.  Talks of climate change began in Cancun, Mexico, late in 2010 leaving the hardest issues unresolved, and at the conference they presented a "modest" agreement.  The agreement fell way short of the changes scientists say are needed to avoid dangerous climate change in the future.  The Cancun argument gives over 190 participating countries in the conference another year to decide whether to extend the Kyoto Protocol, the agreement that requires most wealthy nations to cut down their emissions while giving assistance to other developing countries to enforce a "cleaner energy future."  At the center of the international debate is a monumentous argument between rich and poor countries over who will step up first and who will pay the most for changed energy plans.

Evaluation
The New York Times is saying that Global warming is one of the hardest deciding issues to face world leaders today.  I agree that it is a hard issue to  resolve because there are so many changes that need to be made in order to make the emissions cut down, let alone stop completely.  World leaders are fighting over who is going to make the first step in this process, and who is going to pay more.  New energy plans are going to have to be made, especially for richer countries considering that the build up of gases so far has mainly come from them.  "...tens of billions of dollars are said to  be needed, only millions have flowed so far." (New York Times)

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Introduction

I chose global warming for my "So What Essay" because I wanted to find out information to help me have a better understanding of the topic, and to be able to deliver facts to help others understand and care about this issue.  I do not believe everything that I hear about global warming, but I do think that there are many facts and proof that global warming will be an issue in the future.  Whether it is 10, 100, or 1,000 years from now, it is a topic that people should be aware of.  As well as to inform others what we as individuals can do to help stop and prevent global warming.