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Tourism & Environment □ ■
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ITH
Students' Information Board on Sustainable
Development
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CLIMATE CHANGE & GLOBAL WARMING
Definition: Global warming is the observed increase in the average temperature of the Earth's atmosphere and oceans in recent decades. Most of it is likely to be relatable to human activities. The predicted effects of global warming for the environment and for human life are numerous, such as rising sea levels, glacier retreat, increased extreme weather events (droughts, floods, hurricanes), change of agriculture, extinction of species and expansion of tropical diseases. Another related effect of increased CO2 is estimated as oceanic acidification. The oceanic absoption of more carbon oxide reduces ocean pH value which is likely to affect calcifying species (e.g. corals).
What are Greenhouse gases? The primary causes of human-induced component of global warming are increased amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases: Carbon dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), Nitrous oxide (N20), Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), Perfluorocarbons PFCs), Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6). Main sources of greenhouse gas emissions are industrial processes (burning of fossil fuel) and transport, deforestation, land use and agriculture.
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UNFCCC The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is an international treaty adopted at the Earth Summit of Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The treaty entered into force in 1994 and its objective is "to achieve stabilization of greenhouse gas concentration in the atmosphere at a low enough level to prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system".
BBC News, October 2007: Climate change campaigner Al Gore and the UN's IPCC have been jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Conference on Global Climate Change in Bali, 2007: Strong emotions and how a single statement made the negotiations change
How did international action against global warming start? Kyoto Protocol - 1997 The Kyoto Protocol is an amendment to the UNFCCC, assigning mandatory targets to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in 1997 and entered into force in February 2005. So far more than 160 countries globally and over 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions are covered by the Kyoto Protocol. One of the Protocol's key factors is a quantified emission limitation or reduction commitment of heat-trapping greenhouse gases.
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