Global Warming
Our civilization is on a path towards destruction. Historically, one can see that at some point, all empires will meet their decease. Our empire, however, is not only our country, but the entire world. Never has the earth seen such a catastrophe as is projected for us. The earth is heating up rapidly, and there is not much that can be done to stop it. It is important, however, to keep in mind that if nobody attempts to prevent the acceleration of global warming, there will be no logical option that could be taken once it is too late.
There is a desperate need for the world's superpowers to step up to this dilemma, and frankly the effort shown has been ineffective. The United States should be the nation to address this issue with the most conviction since it is referred to as the world's only superpower. However there has been no sufficient action taken.
There is a general consensus that the best way to describe the effects of global warming is to cut emissions. The biggest action taken to put this idea into effect was the nearly worldwide ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. This treaty holds paramount the idea of reducing emissions. In early December of 1997, representatives from over 160 nations met in Japan to discuss a treaty that would force developed nations to reduce emissions, and allow developing nations to continue. The idea was that once these latter nations become developed, they too will join in reducing emissions. The federal U.S. government, however, shunned the idea, saying that by reducing their emissions while allowing China and India to continue emitting what they are, will harm the American economy. This isn't true however, because the European Union's system of buying and selling emission credits is actually very profitable. In this system, each company is given an amount of greenhouse gasses they can emit. If they go over the amount specified, they have the option to buy "credits" from companies who have emitted...
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