August 18, 2006
Current Events Log: Week One
“Gas-guzzling US in denial on link to looming global-warming crisis”
Is the root cause of global warming natural fluctuations in the world’s temperature or rather the increase in emissions of various gasses into the world’s atmosphere? This is the first question posed in this Thursday’s article in The Irish Times entitled “Gas-guzzling US in denial on link to looming global-warming crisis”. The author of the article concludes that the primary reason that global warming has become such a great issue in the last two decades is due to the mass amount of gasses including carbon dioxide and methane that have been emitted into the atmosphere as a result of activities associated with the increase in international industrialization in the last century. Based on this deduction it is apparent that it is the responsibility of humans around the globe to find a solution to this time sensitive problem; a problem which as the author details could cause such future disasters as an eighty foot rise in the sea level and a five degree rise in overall temperature.
One temporary solution to the issue of global warming discussed in the article is that of the Kyoto Treaty, which aims to find new forms of technology that will result in a decrease of the total number of gaseous substances being emitted into the atmosphere. There is only one problem with this new treaty: the United States refuses to take part in it. This brings the author to his second question. Why does the United States not want to participate in a treaty that ultimately will save thousands of lives? The answer is simply that President Bush feels that the signing of this treaty would result in general harming to the economy, more specifically the oil and gas industry of the United States. Furthermore, it is the general consensus of the American administration that despite scientific evidence for the opposite, it is not actually human activities that have caused the increase in global warming. Therefore, until the United States government accepts that despite possible economic repercussions the problem of global warming must be solved, the Kyoto Treaty will remain on hold.
The question of what the cause of global warming truly is seems to constantly be a hot topic, particularly in the summer months when the actual rise in yearly temperature seems to be most noticeable. I can say that I have witnessed more than a few conversations recently where this debate of the root cause of global warming was argued. While I believe that the majority of the American public does not agree with the government on its stance that industrial human activities are not the reason that global warming has become such as issue, there is one crucial similarity between the government and its citizens that I have observed regarding the issue. It seems as though the American public in general is eager to discuss and debate global warming, but it seems as though the same people more often than not possess no conviction to correct this current issue. While the citizens of the United States do not want such characteristics of the world as sea level or overall temperature to alter for the worse, they also are unable to subscribe to a world where technology must change. Both the government and citizens of the United States appear to have a deep concern for the immediate future as opposed to the entire future of the planet; consequentially, the United States government is somewhat giving the people what they want. For the time being, provide the citizens of this nation with oil and gasoline, and eventually tackle global warming. Perhaps this is why the United States internationally does not want to take part in such solutions to global warming as the Kyoto Treaty.
Article Bibliography:
"Gas-guzzling US in denial on link to looming global-warming crisis." The Irish Times
08/17/2006 15. August 17, 2006
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