Environmental Issues GH2/Napp

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“On December 1, 1997, delegates from more than 150 nations arrived in Kyoto, Japan, to attend the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. They met to devise the first international treaty on ways to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide gas into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is a gas that is released when such fuels as coal, gasoline, and wood are burned. In the atmosphere, it serves as a sort of one-way windowpane, like the glass in a greenhouse. The sun’s radiation passes down through the windowpane to warm the earth. Some of the heat from the earth’s surface is radiated to the atmospheric windowpane, however, and is trapped on the earth, creating a greenhouse effect.

After the Kyoto convention, the delegates discussed the results of a two-year negotiation process that followed the Earth Summit in Brazil. The final treaty, known as the Kyoto Protocol, laid out a specific strategy for combating global warming. This strategy required 38 industrialized nations to reduce their combined greenhouse-gas emissions to more than 5 percent below 1990 levels. Developing nations, which release fewer carbon dioxide gases into the atmosphere, could set their own limits on such emissions. Those industrialized nations that were unable to meet the limits set for them could apply for emission-reduction credits from industrialized nations that achieved reductions greater than that called for by the treaty. Since forests absorb large quantities of carbon dioxide, industrialized nations could receive emission credits by planting new forests and protecting existing ones.

U.S. lawmakers who attended the conference stated that the U.S. Senate would never ratify the Kyoto Protocol. Opponents of the treaty argued that to cut the use of carbon fuels to the extent it required would cause energy prices to soar and would damage the U.S. economy.” ~ Global History: The Growth of Civilizations

Questions:

1-Why did delegates from more than 150 nations meet in Kyoto? ______

2-Why do nations want to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide gas into the atmosphere? ______

3-What is the greenhouse effect?

______

4-How did the Kyoto Protocol attempt to reduce carbon emissions? ______

5-Why did the U.S. not sign the Kyoto Protocol? ______

Notes:

  1. Global Warming
  1. The earth has experienced climate change
  2. But, starting with the Industrial Revolution, human activity has increased this change

1-Burning of fossil fuels – coal and oil

2-Deforestation –cutting down trees

3-Leads to “greenhouse gases”

4-“Greenhouse gases” trap heat

5-Raise earth’s temperature above past levels

  1. Deforestation
  1. More than 80% of the Earth’s natural forests have been destroyed
  2. Due to logging, fires, and clearing land for agriculture
  3. Trees are natural consumers of carbon dioxide

1-One of the greenhouse gases

  1. Desertification
  1. Deserts are expanding
  2. Due to deforestation, overgrazing, over cultivation
  3. People displaced
  4. Hunger and Famine
  1. Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
  1. These actions make a difference

Questions:

1-What turning point in world history has greatly accelerated climate change?

2-Why has this event greatly accelerated climate change?

3-Provide examples of fossil fuels.

4-What is deforestation?

5-Provide one cause and one effect of deforestation.

6-What is desertification?

7-Provide one cause and one effect of desertification.

8-What can humans do to protect the environment?

1. . . . Traditionally, [African] farmers cleared land, grew crops for a few harvests, then let the fields lie fallow for 10 or 15 years to rejuvenate as they moved on to clear more land, the study reports. But as they try to feed a rapidly growing population, the farmers instead grow crop after crop, sapping the soil’s fertility. “Nothing grows, so the topsoil is blown away by the wind and washed away by the rains,” said Amit H. Roy, president of the International Fertilizer Development Center, a nonprofit agricultural aid organization, which produced the study. “It goes into the river system, silting them, and out to the oceans.”. . .
— Celia Dugger, “Overfarming African Land is Worsening Hunger Crisis”
Which problem in sub-Saharan Africa is being described in this passage?
(1) global warming
(2) acid rain
(3) urbanization
(4) desertification
2. The term Green Revolution refers to
(1) an overthrow of the government by radical parties
(2) increased agricultural production based on technological advancements
(3) a drastic change in the environment based on global warming
(4) decreased food production caused by terrorism
3. The destruction of the rain forests in Latin America is primarily due to the
(1) diseases carried by insects
(2) wildfires occurring during dry seasons
(3) devastation caused by high winds during the tropical storm season
(4) demand for timber, farmland, and grazing land / 4. • China implemented a one-child policy.
• African nations established educational and health care agendas.
• Latin American nations worked with the United States to reduce drug trafficking.
Which conclusion can best be drawn using all of these statements?
(1) The governments of different countries reacted in various ways to the same problem.
(2) Population explosions took place in some countries during the 20th century.
(3) Some countries looked toward other nations to help solve their problems.
(4) Countries have had to address a variety of economic and social problems.
5. Which problem in the savanna regions of Africa is caused by population pressures and overuse of the land?
(1) rain forest destruction
(2) desertification
(3) air pollution
(4) flooding
6. Which statement about the Green Revolution is most accurate?
(1) It reduced the amount of chemical pollutants in the environment.
(2) It increased food output in many developing countries.
(3) It decreased dependence on fossil fuels.
(4) It attempted to end colonial rule.
7. Deforestation, acid rain, and the greenhouse effect are major world problems that indicate a need for
(1) cooperation between nations to reduce pollution and environmental destruction
(2) an increase in the worldwide production of oil
(3) a reduction in crop production in some areas of the world