Greenhouse Gas Emissions and the Ethics of the Individual “The most important thing about global warming is this. Whether humans are responsible for the bulk of climate change is going to be left to the scientists, but it's all of our responsibility to leave this planet in better shape for the future generations than we found it.” –Mike Huckabee, politician Do individual greenhouse gas emissions cause harm? In short, yes. Though this harm may not exactly be measureable on the individual level,
Reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, particularly from industrial production, to combat global climate change is one of the biggest sustainable development challenge for the international community. Countries are adopting Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs), low carbon development strategies and climate change policies to tackle issues of climate change and at the same time meet their development goals. At the global level, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
Global Warming and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Overall, emissions of CO2 increased by 0.3% to 6.8 tons per person in the United States. Emissions of greenhouse gases other than carbon dioxide, which account for 17% of total greenhouse gas emissions, declined by 0.6%. Emissions from the industrial sector declined 1.3% even though the U.S. economy grew 3.9% in 1998. However, CO2 emissions from transportation grew by 2.4% while CO2 emissions of regulated utilities expanded by 3.2% as a result of
Greenhouse gas are a number of gases contributing to global warming which heat up the earth. The greenhouse gas that is emitted are carbon dioxide, methane , nitrous oxide and more. The greenhouse gases absorb infrared rays (heat) emitted from the Sun, which will be kept in the earth’s atmosphere rather that it being reflected away into space which helps the earth’s temperature to remain constant. The industrial world in earth contributes carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuels in factories.Fossil
wished to have legally binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions to be included in the summit, but the United States of America refused to agree because it claimed that there were still scientific uncertainties regarding the need to take action in limiting gas emission. Besides, since limiting gas emissions will cutting energy consumption, it will give unacceptable economic impacts. Since the United States is one of the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, so it was very important that the
of these events are comparable to the +7.1 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions that are being produced in the United States of America yearly.(Tonto.eia.doe) As Al Gore once stated in his book, Earth in the Balance, “the process filling the atmosphere with carbon dioxide and other pollutants – is a willful expansion of our dysfunctional civilization into vulnerable parts of the natural world” (234). These greenhouse gas emissions will pollute our atmosphere causing catastrophic events
The rising levels of atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHG) caused by the increased use of fossil fuels for energy services—notably transportation, heating, and the generation of electricity—is known to be one of the foremost drivers of climate change. The United States is responsible for one-fourth of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions, representing only 5% of the world population and it becomes the world’s single largest emitter of atmospheric greenhouse gasses (EPA, 2011) . Since 1970, the
like a big blanket to maintain the planet at a stable temperature. This process is called the greenhouse effect. The main gases are mostly carbon dioxide, water vapor, and methane. The problem now is that we are adding too much greenhouse gas to the atmosphere, especially carbon dioxide. These additions of carbon dioxide are known as carbon emissions. As the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increases more and more heat ... ... middle of paper ... ...ry that
saving the Amazon rainforest even more, according to these recent studies its predicted that roughly 1/3 of the Amazon rainforest's trees will be killed by even the modest temperature rises. Up to a estimated 85% of the forest could be lost if greenhouse gas emissions are not brought to control. (Adam, David. "Amazon Could Shrink by 85% Due to Climate Change, Scientists Say." Theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media, 11 Mar. 2009. Web. 06 May 2014.) ... ... middle of paper ... ...arch and studies
process of climate change begins. HOW IS IT CAUSED? Climate change is caused when specific dangerous emissions, greenhouse gases, chemical compounds or substances are freed into the atmosphere. Including - Water vapor increases as the Earth's atmosphere warms, but so does the possibility of clouds and precipitation, making these some of the most important feedback mechanisms to the greenhouse
prospective construction professionals. The research draws attention to the fact that the building sector is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. With the building sector accountable for 23% of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions. With careful building design, and incorporating energy efficient techniques and materials, the building sector’s greenhouse gas emissions could be dramatically reduced, leading to sustainable development. These energy efficient measures have barriers that need
Man Made Global Destruction The Greenhouse effect and ozone depletion are two of the most prevalent environmental issues faced globally today. Greenhouse gases have the ability to absorb infrared radiation from the sun. Global warming refers to an increase in average global temperature due to natural and anthropogenic causes. Ozone depletion describes an observed decline of 4% ozone per decade in the total volume of the Earth’s stratosphere and seasonal ozone depletion events. Ozone levels within
first greenhouse gas reduction goal was set in 2008 and aimed to reduce the emissions per gallon produced 20 percent by the year 2013. In 2012 the progress was assessed and the goal was changed to a 25 percent reduction per gallon produced by 2020. In 2008 the total metric tons of CO2 the company was responsible for producing was 1,616,810. By 2012 the total amount CO2 Dean Foods produced was 1,432,760. This is a 14 percent reduction in greenhouse gasses. Interface used the Greenhouse Gas protocol
are recognized. There are two main human causes of Earth’s global warming and climate change. The first of which being the greenhouse effect. According to Brian Black in the book Global Warming, the greenhouse effect is the tendency of Earth’s atmosphere to admit the Sun’s radiation but partly retain the low-frequency heat radiation (3). Human activity has changed our greenhouse, especially over the course of the last 150 years due to industrialization. By the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal
Air pollution and greenhouse gases are the reason for the planet as it is today; the reason why we see campaigns flooding the media informing us to ‘switch off’, ‘save the planet’ and ‘turn down the heat’ and the reason why the government is trying to develop a successful scheme, such as the carbon tax scheme, to reduce air pollution caused by major industries. Air pollution and greenhouse gases are the two immediate causes of global warming and climate change. Air pollution occurs when chemicals
to address climate change by implementing emission reduction goals. Seeing as anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are a systemic world environmental problem, any individual act has a global effect and; therefore, international cooperation is necessary in order to address the climate change issue in any region. Furthermore, although developed countries have and are contributing the most to greenhouse gas emissions, many developing countries are feeling the negative affects purely due to their geographic
Canadian citizens are seeing the long term effects of global warming as greenhouse gases are relatively increasing in Canada. Most of how Canadian’s produce greenhouse gas emissions is through Home energy, food/shopping, and cars/transport as this strategy of living can cause polar ice caps to melt in the northern and southern hemisphere causing habitat loss, sea levels rising/decreasing, temperature change, and El Niño. This global warming issue has taken a huge effect in Canada as finding alternative
Greenhouse Effect This Earth is getting older and older. Can you imagine what life will be like if the temperature in the Earth keeps on rising due to the excessive amount of heat trapped in the atmosphere? No one would want that to happen. The atmosphere plays an important role in our daily life. It keeps the Earth warm, which is also known as the greenhouse effect. Due to ozone depletion and global warming, the atmosphere is not able to function normally like how it used to. Human activities such
style of leadership by the Labor Party. Environmentally friendly, they recognized the dangers of a warming world. In 2012 they implemented a carbon tax on the 348 largest business polluters; charging them a little more than $22 for every ton of greenhouse gas emitted ("Australia Votes to Repeal Carbon Tax."). Unpopular and controversial from the beginning, it became a major political and social debate which the Liberal Party successfully used during elections to oust the Labor Party. The Liberal Party
achieving the "stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system’’ The Protocol was initially adopted on 11th of December 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, and entered into force on 16th February 2005. As of September 2011, 191 states have signed and approved the protocol. The only remaining signatory not to have ratified the protocol is the USA, who actually releases more greenhouse gasses than any other nation