Greenhouse gas emissions
On a planetary scale, the earth's atmosphere (water vapour, carbon dioxide, and other elements that are only a trace in the air) arguably plays the same role as glass on a greenhouse. If it wasn't for the atmosphere, the infrared rays produced by the earth would get lost in space and our planet would only be a vast ice desert and the annual temperature would be -18°C. Thanks to the greenhouse effect phenomenon, the average temperature on the surface of the globe reaches 15°C, which makes life as we know it possible.
The greenhouse effect appears like a natural and wishful phenomenon, not to indispensable for life on earth. However, in the last century, a galloping demography and diverse human activities in which the combustion of fossil fuels, deforestation and the use of certain agricultural practices have largely contributed to modify the constitution of the atmosphere and only intensify this phenomenon.
The greenhouse gas emissions concentration is growing at an unprecedented rate. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, content of two of the main greenhouse gas emissions, CO2 and CH4, have risen by 30 and 145%, respectively. It all clearly indicates that these increases are essentially caused by human activity. Meanwhile, several complex gases (created from various simple gases) such as CFC, is added to the threat since 1930. Their origins are purely anthropogenic, which means created by man.
The accentuation problem of the greenhouse effect exists essentially with the fact that man injects every year in the atmosphere more greenhouse gas emissions then the amount that naturally disappears. This problem is even more worrisome because certain gases have a lifespan of tens of thousands of years and the required solutions necessitate a solid planetary will and the setup of a veritable energetic and technological revolution.
The Kyoto protocol
In December 1997, Canada and 160 other countries united in Kyoto, in Japan, and have convened of greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. We call Kyoto protocol the agreement where the countries have determined the targets and choices offered in order to meet the protocol's requirements. The industrialized states, as well as countries in development, have committed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels. The Kyoto protocol will commit the industrialized countries that will ratify it to reduce, between 2008 and 2012, greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2% on average based on the levels in 1990. By ratifying the Kyoto protocol in 2002, Canada has committed itself to reduce its emissions by under 6% than 1990 levels.
The Kyoto protocol does not constitute a panacea and definitely represents a first step. Even if all the countries respect their commitment--which many people seriously doubt--we'll see, just the same, a doubling of greenhouse gas emission concentrations in the atmosphere over the next decades compared to the level just before the industrial period. To reduce the emission concentrations in the atmosphere, and to stabilize them to the 1990 level, we'll have to reduce emissions by 60 to 80% compared to the actual world production!
The anticipated consequences
The rise in temperatures expected in the next 100 years might be higher than all the increases of this type that have been happened in the last 10,000 years. These climate change effects could have unpredictable consequences. The group of intergovernmental experts on climate evolution, constituted from 135 countries and 2,500 scientists, has recently declared that the doubling of greenhouse gas emission concentrations will translate into an increase in vulnerability of human health, of ecosystems and various sectors of the economic activity.
On a planetary scale, the earth's atmosphere (water vapour, carbon dioxide, and other elements that are only a trace in the air) arguably plays the same role as glass on a greenhouse. If it wasn't for the atmosphere, the infrared rays produced by the earth would get lost in space and our planet would only be a vast ice desert and the annual temperature would be -18°C. Thanks to the greenhouse effect phenomenon, the average temperature on the surface of the globe reaches 15°C, which makes life as we know it possible.
The greenhouse effect appears like a natural and wishful phenomenon, not to indispensable for life on earth. However, in the last century, a galloping demography and diverse human activities in which the combustion of fossil fuels, deforestation and the use of certain agricultural practices have largely contributed to modify the constitution of the atmosphere and only intensify this phenomenon.
The greenhouse gas emissions concentration is growing at an unprecedented rate. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, content of two of the main greenhouse gas emissions, CO2 and CH4, have risen by 30 and 145%, respectively. It all clearly indicates that these increases are essentially caused by human activity. Meanwhile, several complex gases (created from various simple gases) such as CFC, is added to the threat since 1930. Their origins are purely anthropogenic, which means created by man.
The accentuation problem of the greenhouse effect exists essentially with the fact that man injects every year in the atmosphere more greenhouse gas emissions then the amount that naturally disappears. This problem is even more worrisome because certain gases have a lifespan of tens of thousands of years and the required solutions necessitate a solid planetary will and the setup of a veritable energetic and technological revolution.
The Kyoto protocol
In December 1997, Canada and 160 other countries united in Kyoto, in Japan, and have convened of greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. We call Kyoto protocol the agreement where the countries have determined the targets and choices offered in order to meet the protocol's requirements. The industrialized states, as well as countries in development, have committed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels. The Kyoto protocol will commit the industrialized countries that will ratify it to reduce, between 2008 and 2012, greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2% on average based on the levels in 1990. By ratifying the Kyoto protocol in 2002, Canada has committed itself to reduce its emissions by under 6% than 1990 levels.
The Kyoto protocol does not constitute a panacea and definitely represents a first step. Even if all the countries respect their commitment--which many people seriously doubt--we'll see, just the same, a doubling of greenhouse gas emission concentrations in the atmosphere over the next decades compared to the level just before the industrial period. To reduce the emission concentrations in the atmosphere, and to stabilize them to the 1990 level, we'll have to reduce emissions by 60 to 80% compared to the actual world production!
The anticipated consequences
The rise in temperatures expected in the next 100 years might be higher than all the increases of this type that have been happened in the last 10,000 years. These climate change effects could have unpredictable consequences. The group of intergovernmental experts on climate evolution, constituted from 135 countries and 2,500 scientists, has recently declared that the doubling of greenhouse gas emission concentrations will translate into an increase in vulnerability of human health, of ecosystems and various sectors of the economic activity.