Articles of the Month

Kyoto

Captain Planet says, "Wake up and smell the Carbon!"

The Kyoto treaty is an agreement to reduce global warming gases to 5% below the 1990 levels by the period 2008 ? 2012, but to become international law it has to be supported by 55 countries and industrialized nations that emitted at least 55% of the industrialized worlds carbon dioxide in 1990.

There are many questions that come to mind when I think of the Kyoto Accord. Two very important ones are, "Why should we care?" and "What can we do as youth with or without the government's co-operation to reduce the carbon dioxide on earth?"

There are many reasons why we should care if the Kyoto accord becomes international law or not.

1~Global warming is already changing the world. There are glaciers melting and coral reefs being severely damaged by unusually warm ocean temperatures. Rising sea levels threaten entire nations in the pacific and Indian ocean. These are just a few examples.

2~Political leaders have wasted a decade ignoring the grim warnings that they have known about since the 1980's.

3~Technologies to cut carbon dioxide emissions are with us which are cost effective and use less energy. This means less pollution and renewable resources of energy such as the wind and sun produce no pollution at all.

4~It's only going to get worse through droughts, heat waves, storms and floods unless we do something now. Plants and animals that can't keep pace with rapid warming will be wiped out.

5~The Kyoto treaty will make a difference in getting things moving in the right direction so we can build on it in the future.

If you're concerned about global warming you can bet you're not alone - there are others who care and there are ways that we, the youth, can combat global warming. Avoid using a car for short journeys when you can walk or ride a bike, turn off the television, radio or computer when you are finished using them, replace normal light bulbs with energy efficient fluorescent lamps, tell your family and friends about global warming so that they can become more aware of it, get involved in or start a program where you live or go to school to save energy, study how to save energy, use renewable energy, ask your political leader to do more to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in your neighborhood and if you want to avoid being a climate destroyer, don't buy a sports utility vehicle. There are many more things you can do as an individual. Just sit down to think about what you do now and how you can make a change for the better. Check out www.energyguide.com to se how you can do your own home audit.

There are a lot of things I don't know, but one thing I do know and am certain of is that global warming will effect us all so we should all do our part to keep our only home clean and not depend or wait for the government to do it for us.