http://www.davidsuzuki.org/ is a great reference to learn a bit more about maintaining a healthy planet.
Global Warming
Greenhouse gases (GHGs) sit in the atmosphere and act like a shield that keeps the Earth warm. Without it, life would not be able to exist on the planet. Over the last two centuries, humans have added to the levels of GHGs by burning fossil fuels like coal and oil and blowing them up into the atmosphere. This adds a second coating of protection, and causes temperatures to rise.
"Are scientists still debating global warming? No. Over 97% of climate scientists—the experts in their field—agree that human activities are causing the current warming and related climate chaos."
There are natural fluctuations in the climate, of course, but the proof of the matter is that the baseline will continue to grow. If things continue as they are, one day we will not be able to grow wheat, and the Arctic wil be ice free. This will effect many species, including humans.
Governments Need to Take Action
Obviously taking action won't result in immediate resolution the problem. It will takes years and years to reduce the blanket of buildup that's blocking our atmosphere, but we can prevent it from getting any worse. It's the only way to keep our planet as we know it.
Cap-and-Trade on Carbon Emissions
The government needs to implement a cap-and-trade system on the level of carbon emissions in America. This happens when the government puts a limit on the allowed pollution levels and then reduces them every year until we reach a set pollution goal. Because it decreases every year, it will cut businesses GHGs and force polluters that exceed their limit to buy their resources from others who haven't. The way that this will happen is that the government will create "pollution quotas." This will motivate factories to strive for greener resources so that they can sell versus buy the quotas, because that will be most economically beneficial to them. Cap-and-trade systems have been successful in the US before, when we were able to reduce sulfur dioxide and nitrus oxide, which are two of the main things that create acid rain. The reason that we should use a cap-and-trade method versus a carbon tax one is that we will have more clarity about the carbon emissions that will be reduced. If we can stop producing large amounts of carbon dioxide, we can potentially halt the growing of the GHGs in it's tracks.Deforestation
Now that we've figured out how to stop from creating more carbon emissions, the attention shifts to erasing the problem that's already here. Evidence over the past decade shows that forest destruction is plays a major role in heat trapping gasses. Trees are important because they soak up carbon dioxide in the air. As we cut down more and more trees we are eliminating one of the balancing elements of our planet, and removing less carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The Science Journal published an article that read "that up to 20% of human-produced greenhouse gas emissions throughout the 1990's came from logging in tropical forests." It also states that "cutting tropical deforestation in half by the middle part of this century will reduce heat-trapping emissions by 12% and will ultimately be necessary to keep our climate stable." It's clear that the US government needs put in a word to to stop deforestation and start making movements that promote healthy plant growth. We need to petition this because we can't afford to lose any more of our rain forests or our tropics to the monsters in forms of heat and humanity.Oil Drilling in Alaska
Whether or not oil companies should be able to drill in Alaska is a hot debate. Check out the H.R. 139/S. 33 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Wilderness Bill below:
No comments:
Post a Comment