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Recently on the news there has been plenty of talk about global warming and the Kyoto Protocol. Does this global warming threaten our generation, or is it a problem for the generations to come? What do you suppose will happen to the environment within 50 years?

2006-11-02 04:17:19 · 8 answers · asked by ? 6 in Environment

8 answers

Good question indeed and very topical! The effects of global warming have already begun and unless immediate steps are undertaken by the world community, things might get worse. The polar ice caps have already started to shrunk. The sea levels are expected to rise flooding many of the low-lying coastal states of the world. In fact, Britain has already published a report underlining the need for urgent action to prevent massive floods or harsh droughts from devastating the world economy. The report authored by a former World Bank chief economist, Nicholas Stern paints a grim apocalyptic picture of the dire consequences of global warming. The Report commissioned by the Blair government has urged urgent action and pushing for a post-Kyoto Protocol framework that would include the US, a non-signatory of the Protocol, to immediately limit carbon emmisions that is the root cause of global warming.

According to Hans Verolme, of New College, Oxford, the Stern Report is overly conservative of the economic cost of combating global warming. He argues that it requires additionally a substantial changes in our lifestyle.

Prime Minister Blair and his finance minister, Gordon Brown have proposed a new European target of reducing emissions by 30% by 2020 and 60% by 2050 and a so-called carbon trading scheme based on quotas.

Some of the experts have termed the Stern Report as needlessly alarmist but the consensus now is the Kyoto Protocol must be immediately implemented. The alternative is catastrophe on a global scale!

2006-11-02 04:59:39 · answer #1 · answered by quark_sa 2 · 0 0

Your question has been in the news of late. Tony Blair, the Prime Minister of England, gave a speech a few days ago emphatically stating that human behavior must change now or we will face "dire consequences" within our lifetimes. The speech was on the occasion of the receipt of a British government commissioned scientific report, The Stern Review, spelling out the economic specifics of what awaits if climate change isn't stabilized quickly, and also emphatically shows that the only logical cause for the rapid change in climate is human activity. I urge everyone to at least read the 27 page summary which also includes a graph showing what consequences happen at what temperature change. The answers to the questions you raised are all there. The summary and the full report can be found at the location listed as the reference below. Lest you fall into total despair, the report states that committing 1% of global GDP to the problem would be enough to stabilize the climate, IF we act NOW. Links from the below page will lead you to some of the best science-based global warming information I've found on the web.

2006-11-02 05:18:37 · answer #2 · answered by gordon B 3 · 1 0

Sometimes little things can turn into big things. Think about brushing your teeth. If you don't brush for one day, chances are nothing bad will happen. But if you don't brush your teeth for one month, you may develop a cavity. It's the same thing with global temperatures. If temperatures rise above normal levels for a few days, it's no big deal – the Earth will stay more or less the same. But if temperatures continue to rise over a longer period of time, then the Earth may experience some problems.

Read this for the "fingerprints" of global warming happening now --> http://www.climatehotmap.org/fingerprints.html
Average global temperature has increased by almost 1ºF over the past century; scientists expect the average global temperature to increase an additional 2 to 6ºF over the next one hundred years. This may not sound like much, but it could change the Earth's climate as never before. At the peak of the last ice age (18,000 years ago), the temperature was only 7ºF colder than it is today, and glaciers covered much of North America!

2006-11-02 04:23:34 · answer #3 · answered by DanE 7 · 1 0

Many major scientist disagree if there is even such a thing as global woarming in the context of which it is preached.

All scientist agree the earth is getting warmer but MOST scientist agree it's a natural cycle fro the ice ages. Remember we only started keeping records 50 - 60 years ago.. That's a REALLY small sample in the million year history of the planet..

2006-11-02 04:21:13 · answer #4 · answered by Marshall Lee 4 · 0 0

Whether you want to call it "global warming" or not, the effects are still real. The polar ice cap is melting:

http://www.nrdc.org/globalWarming/qthinice.asp

and the Antarctic ice is melting and disappearing:

http://nsidc.org/iceshelves/larsenb2002/

THAT will have some pretty serious effects, sooner rather than later. Hope you don't live near a coastline (like ME!).

2006-11-02 04:25:12 · answer #5 · answered by Yahzmin ♥♥ 4ever 7 · 1 0

Marshall Lee (above) is incorrect--most scientists agree that global warming is a reality. Jesse provides you with a good link.

2006-11-02 04:25:43 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1 0

Yes it will.
And it also depends on whose lifetime you are talking about.
Major effects would not happen in the life time of a 60 year old but they will surely happen for a young teenager.

2006-11-02 04:28:51 · answer #7 · answered by MAJ 4 · 1 0

Already happening.

2006-11-02 04:22:03 · answer #8 · answered by Jessy 4 · 2 0

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