Why dont you guys ask US and AUSTRALIA to ratify Kyoto protocol?

Question

It is devastating that they have not ratified it. Small countries like maldives will go underwater if they dont. I Love maldives and want to save it. ASK US and AUSTRALIA to ratify Kyoto protocol an SAVE MALDIVES

Answer 1

we've been asking that for years. Theres not a lot we can do because the US and Australia aren't going to listen to us

Answer 2

Read the entire Kyoto Protocol and you'll understand why the USA and Australia are too smart to willingly destroy their economies for no good reason.

When so-called "developing countries" are fully exempt from any requirements to reduce emissions while industrialized countries are expected to make impossible reductions it becomes evident that the intent is to economically cripple developed nations.

Also, if you actually believe that by buying "carbon credits" the environment will be improved then I have a really nice bridge to sell you.

I've often wondered why more emphasis hasn't been placed on requiring "developing countries" to use the pollution reduction technology already used by industrialized nations.

The worst possible thing governments can do is mandate how something is to be done. Research and development is effectively stopped since there is a high probability that new technology will not be accepted when its outside the government mandated methods. When the possibility of making a profit isn't there companies look for opportunities where they can make a profit.

Since you are worried (needlessly, IMO) about rising sea levels, try this simple experiment. Fill a glass with ice cubes. Now fill it with water right to the rim. Go read a book (Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide To the Economy and The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation As A Basis For Social policy, both by Thomas Sowell are good choices) and then check the water level in the glass after the ice has melted. Surprise! The water level has dropped! Yes, there is less water in the glass AFTER the ice melts. Why? Its called "displacement" - when water freezes the air in it (oxygen) causes it to expand, thus displacing the water. Once melted it displaces less water so the level drops.

Answer 3

Kyoto is flawed, and some countries are not living up to their agreement.

We need a new agreement that's signed by everyone. The US will come around after the next President is elected. Presumably Australia will follow at that point, rather than be the only one out.

Edwin - You make some good points, except about ice. The ice that's a problem is the ice that's sitting on land, not what's floating. Melt that, water runs into the sea, and raises the level.

Answer 4

It's a mute point as none of the countries that have signed the Kyoto protocol have actually reduced their CO2 emissions.

Australia, although refusing to sign the Kyoto protocol, can still claim to have met our emissions targets through a bit of creative accounting by forcing farmers to stop land clearing, thereby maintaining our carbon sinks.

The US hasn't signed the Kyoto protocol, just because they don't like the idea of coming under the scrutiny of an overseas authority.

Answer 5

The IPCC ( the guys who just got the Nobel Prize with Gore) say the WORST rise in sea level in 100 years is.......one foot.

Go read their report.

In the United States the US Senate has to confirm any treaty or protocol. While Kyoto never came to a formal vote, it did have a "straw" vote and was defeated 95-0.

Voting against were Hilary Clinton, Ted Kennedy and AL Gore.

Go look it up.

Answer 6

Canada signed the Kyoto protocol. Since the signing CO2 emission in Canada has gone up faster than CO2 emissions in the US. What is the point of signing something that nobody takes seriously. At least the US wasn't hypocritical like other nations, you should give them credit for that.

Answer 7

Better to ask the big-time polluters of the underdeveloped countries to stop polluting. The developed countries are all trying to reduce pollution, even those who value their independence enough to refuse the economic and political disaster of Kyoto. Kyoto will not stop India and China from polluting.

Good show Mr Jello, Edwin, yankee_s, you all made good points.

Answer 8

Kyoto is a joke and will do NOTHING to alter the climtae. It is simply a cleverly disguised method of monetary redistribution that lines the pockets of the elite.
Don't hold your breath about Maldives going underwater any time soon.

Answer 9

As regards the USA they have been recycling every thing , which we have only started to do, and even then its half hearted. I first went to New York about fifty years ago and my Daughter was doing it then, and that has increased every year. Garden waste, cans, glass, paper, and over the past years Supermarkets now provide strong brown bags to put your groceries in, and they are recycled every month. Another plus for them is that the Cleansing Dept. come round every day to collect things in turn. When that day comes over here I will give a cheer, as we are lucky if they remember to collect the paper we save.

Answer 10

I live in Oz and we strongly want the government to ratify kyoto but they won't. We are having an election held soon so maybe a change of government will get it done.

Answer 11

Are you aware that the sea levels today are less then they were 160 years ago?

And what would signing a treaty do? The US is already spending billions reducing pollution and subsidizing alternate sources of fuel.

We could do more, but the environmentalist would rather burn coal then to use clean nuclear power.