International climate agreements

We started by exploring the greenhouse effect. Next, we examined various greenhouse gases, highlighting their contribution to global warming and the impact of rising temperatures on ecosystems, human health, and agricultural productivity. We learnt that the majority of these gases are produced by the use of fossil fuels. In a series of posts, we investigated alternative energy sources that are cleaner and emit little to no greenhouse gases.

The emission of greenhouse gases anywhere in the world adds to the stock that is accumulated in the atmosphere, and the spread of these gases throughout the atmosphere ensures that local emissions have a global effect. Emissions by heavy emitters (such as China, the United States and the European Union) could definitely have a noticeable impact on the reduction accumulation, as compared to other countries that don’t emit as much. Even so, the location of developing countries in the lower latitudes, and their dependence on agriculture means that they’ll face the most serious costs. Many developing countries have low-lying coastal areas that are vulnerable to flooding if melting ice caps cause sea levels to rise.

The effects of rising temperatures led to calls for immediate action by (almost) all countries to reduce emissions of CO₂. The global nature of the problem led to international agreements on emission reductions.