Is it fair for developed countries to expect the developing countries to limit their greenhouse emissions?

Essay Plan
Effects of Global warming-snowball effect-greenhouse image LEDC-example-poor cant afford-least production NIC-most-industrial revolution-example MEDC-less-been through revolution-international agreements-example My opinion

Is it fair for developed countries to expect the developing countries to limit their greenhouse emissions?
Global warming is a natural occurrence that will occurs when the Earth tilts closer to the sun this in normally this causes the seasons on the planet. Enhanced global warming is the caused by the addition of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere and the greenhouse effect.

This image shows the cause of the greenhouse effect.

The green house effect has caused the increase in Earths surface temperature. This temperature increase has started to cause the polar ice caps to melt. This melting causes sea levels to rise. The rise in sea level from the increase water in the seas is minimal. The real problem is a result of both the increase temperature and the water and Earths surface. This mix causes the water to expand through thermal expansion meaning the water levels will rise by a larger amount. This causes a snowball effect were the warmer water melts the ice faster causing more sea level rise, creating the worsening cycle. The LEDCs being countries with the lowest level of development. Having lower levels of development means that the LEDC countries produce less greenhouse gases. They release less greenhouse gases because they have a weaker economy so dont have the money required to purchase the cars, fossil fuel power station etc. that produce greenhouse gasses. As the majority of the population is too poor to afford the power hungry devices that the residents of MEDC can afford. As they are using less power the produce little in the way of greenhouse gases. Bangladesh is an example of a LEDC country that is not very developed and therefore produces little in the way of greenhouse gases. Bangladesh is also hid regular by tropical monsoons these cause great deals of damage to the infrastructure of the country meaning it struggles to afford to develop. The geological layout of the land in Bangladesh causes it to be vulnerable to flooding, this flooding causes high levels of death and destruction, the cost of this destruction makes a huge dent in the countries budget meaning it has less money to spend on the development of it infrastructure. Having a poor infrastructure causes the country to emit less greenhouse gasses. As these countries are in the middle of the industrial revolution they are emitting the largest amount of greenhouse gases. The emission causes the same problems that the MEDC countries have already faced such as smog and high rates of energy use. This high use of energy has a massive impact on the emissions of the country, the large number of fossil fuel power stations that are required to power its revolution and the emissions from the industries themselves an example being steel works which require large amounts of coal to produce the steel this process releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. China is an example of an NIC country that is going through an industrial revolution at the moment, this means that it is going through the stage that all of the MEDC countries have already been through. This transition means that it is burning large amounts of fossil fuels to supply power to it expanding industry base. The burning of fossil fuels pulps out carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Having a large population such as chinas whose staple food is rice also causes a negative impact on the countries emissions. This is because rice produces methane as it grows, methane being the worst of the greenhouse gases. And if this is the staple food of china then large amounts of it are going to be grown to support releasing large amounts of methane into the atmosphere. All of this makes china the world biggest emitter of greenhouse gases; it is a combination of human needs and its wish to develop quickly that have caused it to become the biggest. The MEDC countries have been through their industrial revolutions so have now exited the high emission stage of their development. This means that they have had high emission levels at some point in the past and therefore have released the levels of emissions of the NIC they just did it at an earlier date before people knew what it would

cause. The MEDCs have now become developed less dependent on secondary businesses for their income and therefore no longer have the outputs of factories such as steel production lines added to their emissions. Another factor that has reduced the emissions of MEDCs is there new knowledge, that comes from having time and funds to divert to academic studies, they now know the effect that their emission are having. Having become an MEDC there are now a major player in the world and so will have to take part in treaties and agree meant to limit their output. An example would be the Kyoto agreement. This limits countries emissions but only MEDC countries had to sign up, LEDCs and NIC could but werent forced to. Denmark is an example of a MEDC who has dramatically reduced their emissions of greenhouse gases, they have done this using a aspect of their country a high level of wind, the harnessing of this natural force is a major way that they reduce their reliance on fossil fuels. Not being so reliant on fossil fuels means that they have less emission. Another reason is knowledge people in LEDC have been educated to limit the amount of power they use and recycle to help the climate. But MEDCs do use massive amounts of electricity this is obvious when looking a night time shots of the earth from orbit. The use of this large amount of electricity is because the people can afford the luxury goods that require electricity to function. The large power requirements of MEDCs are a problem as they cause large emissions of greenhouse gases, through the burning of fossil fuels to create the electricity. I believe that it is fair to expect the LEDC and NIC countries to partake in some kind of emission cuts as long as the MEDCs lead the way by dramatically reducing their own emissions. The emission limits should be scalar meaning that the more developed the less of an excuse it has for releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. This means that LEDCs will have the highest limit on their emissions as they are the least developed. The NIC would have a medium level cap to encourage them to develop in a more environmentally friendly way but still allowing for the extra emissions that they need to be able to develop. The MEDC countries would have the lowest emission cap this is because they need to make up for their own industrial revolutions. Also in this way when NICs become MEDCs they will have to dramatically cut their emissions. I believe that all countries should contribute to the efforts to save the planet.