INTRODUCTION

Glaciers are melting, sea levels are rising, cloud forests are dying, and wildlife is
scrambling to keep pace. It's becoming clear that humans have caused most of the past
century's warming by releasing heat-trapping gases as we power our modern lives . The
two major global-scale environmental threats of international concern since the 1970s have
been global stratospheric ozone layer loss and global warming. The global ozone layer is
expected to recover by the mid–twenty-first century because national and international
regulations have required the chemical industry to use alternatives to chloro- and
bromocarbons, which are the chemicals primarily responsible for stratospheric ozone loss.
However, progress toward solving the second major issue of international concern, global
warming, has been slow.

Temperature on Earth in the Absence of a Greenhouse Effect

The natural greenhouse effect is the warming of the Earth’s troposphere due to an increase
in natural greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases are gases that are largely transparent to the
sun’s visible radiation but absorb and reemit the Earth’s thermal-IR radiation at selective
wavelengths. They cause a net warming of the Earth’s atmosphere similar to the way in
which a glass house causes a net warming of its interior. The greenhouse effect is shown in
fig. 1. The surface of the Earth, like plants, absorbs solar radiation and reemits thermal- IR
radiation. Greenhouse gases, like glass, are transparent to most solar radiation but absorb a
portion of the Earth’s thermal-IR radiation at selective wavelengths.

Global warming is the increase in the Earth’s temperature above that from the natural
greenhouse effect due to the addition of anthropogenically emitted greenhouse gases and
aerosol particle components that directly absorb solar radiation. Important absorbing aerosol
particle components include black carbon (BC) and certain organic carbon compounds,
collectively referred to as brown carbon (BrC). BC absorbs across the entire solar spectrum.
BrC strongly absorbs UV and short visible wavelengths of light, but not solar-IR
wavelengths. Because particles containing BC and BrC contain some non-warming
components but predominantly cause warming, they are referred to as warming particles.
Whereas greenhouse gases transmit solar radiation and absorb thermal-IR radiation, BC
strongly absorbs all wavelengths of solar radiation, and BrC strongly absorbs UV and short
visible wavelengths of solar radiation. BC and BrC both weakly absorb thermal-IR radiation.
Thus, greenhouse gases and BC/BrC both warm the air, but by different mechanisms.

Whereas BC and BrC warm the climate, most other aerosol constituents – sulfate, nitrate,
ammonium, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, non absorbing organic material, and
liquid water attached to these ions and molecules – reflect solar radiation and reduce near
surface temperatures. The sources of the cooling components generally differ from the
sources of warming components, so particles containing predominantly cooling components
are referred to as cooling particles.

The Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming

Greenhouse gases are relatively transparent to incoming solar radiation but opaque to
selective wavelengths of IR radiation. The term “relatively” transparent is used because all
greenhouse gases absorb far-UV radiation (which is a trivial fraction of incoming solar
radiation). In addition, ozone strongly absorbs UV-B and -C radiation and weakly absorbs
visible radiation. Water vapour and carbon dioxide absorb solar-IR radiation. Table 1 shows
the percentage of natural greenhouse gases and temperature changes.

Leading Causes of Global Warming

Carbon dioxide is the leading cause of global warming. The second leading cause of historic
near-surface global warming may be particulate black carbon and its associated brown
carbon. Black carbon is emitted during coal, diesel and jet fuel, natural gas, kerosene, biofuel,
and biomass burning. Other anthropogenic pollutants that contribute to global warming
include methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, CFCs, HCFCs, chlorocarbons, and water vapor.
Although it is the most important natural greenhouse gas, water vapor’s direct anthropogenic
emission contribution to global warming is relatively small. The major anthropogenic
emission source of water vapor is evaporation of water used to cool coal, nuclear, natural gas,
and biofuel power plants and industrial facilities, which heat up due to combustion or nuclear
reaction within them. Evaporation also occurs during the irrigation of crops, but much of this
water would evaporate in any case. The second largest anthropogenic emission source of
water vapor is fossil fuel, biofuel, and anthropogenic biomass burning combustion. Such
combustion releases carbon dioxide, water vapor, and air pollutants. Of the evaporation plus
combustion sources of water vapor, which totaled ∼64 GT-H2O/yr in 2005, about two-thirds
was evaporation. However, to put this in perspective, the total anthropogenic emission rate of
water vapour was only about 1/8,000th the natural emission rat of 500,000 GT-H2O/yr.
Nevertheless, because natural water vapor causes ∼29.4 K of the natural greenhouse effect, a
simple scaling suggests that global warming due to anthropogenic water vapor emissions may
be 1/8,000th of this, ∼0.0038 K, which represents ∼0.47 percent of global warming to date.
Although CO2(g) is the most abundant and overall most important anthropogenically emitted
agent triggering global warming, several other chemicals are more efficient, molecule for
molecule, at heating the air. For example, black carbon in fossil fuel soot heats the air more
than 1 million times more per unit mass in the atmosphere than does CO2(g). CH4(g) heats
the air about 25 times more per unit mass than does CO2(g). N2O(g) and CFCl3(g) cause
about 270 and 4,750 times more warming per unit mass, respectively, than does CO2(g).
Although other chemicals are more effective at warming per unit mass than is carbon dioxide,
the emission rate and mixing ratio of carbon dioxide are much greater than are those of the
other chemicals. As such, CO2(g) is the leading cause of global warming.

As illustrated in Fig. 2, net observed global warming to date is due primarily to the summed
heat-ing of greenhouse gases, absorbing aerosol particles, and urban surfaces (the urban heat
island effect) minus the cooling from reflective aerosol particles. Fig. 2 indicates that cooling
particles cause more cooling than warming particles cause warming. In fact, cooling particles
are masking more than half of actual global warming. In other words, if only emissions of
cooling particles were eliminated, the net observed global warming would double. Even if
both cooling and warming particles were reduced, temperatures would increase substantially.
Because aerosol particles are the leading cause of air pollution mortality, reducing both
cooling and warming particles is desirable from a public health perspective. As such, a
strategy that involves reducing particle and greenhouse gas emission simultaneously is bene-
ficial for reducing both health and climate problems simultaneously. Alternatively, because
the sources of warming particles, fossil fuel and biofuel soot, differ from sources of cooling
particles, a strategy of selectively controlling fossil fuel and biofuel soot together with
greenhouse gases would address both climate and air pollution health problems
simultaneously.
Recent Temperature Record
Three types of datasets are used to assess global and regional air temperature changes during
the past century. All three show evidence of near-surface global warming.
The first type of dataset is one that uses temperature measurements taken between 2 m and 10
m above the surface at land-based meteorological stations and fixed-position weather ships.
Two worldwide datasets using such measurements include the U.S. Global Historical Climate
Network (GHCN) dataset (Peterson and Vose, 1997) and the UK Meteorological Office
dataset (Bro-han et al., 2006). Both datasets include measurements since the 1850s. The
number of measurement stations included in each dataset changes yearly. The GHCN dataset
includes data from fewer than 500 stations prior to 1880, a high of 5,464 stations in 1966, and
about 2,000 stations more recently. The Brohan et al. (2006) dataset includes data from fewer
than 250 stations prior to 1880, up to 1,800 stations in the 1950s, and fewer than 1,000
stations more recently. Figure 12.13 shows changes in globally averaged near-surface air
temperatures between 1880 and 2010 from the GHCN dataset. Temperatures were relatively
stable between 1860 and 1910, but steadily increased from 1910 to 1940. Temperatures were
stable or slightly decreased between 1940 and the mid-1970s, but they increased rapidly from
the mid-1970s to 2010. Nine of the ten warmest years were in the 2000s, and the years 2010
and 2005 were tied for the warmest years on record. The data indicate that the average global
near-surface air temperature has warmed by 0.7 ◦ Cto0.9 ◦C since 1880.
A second type of dataset is one that uses temperature measurements at different altitudes
taken from balloons (radiosondes) twice daily at about 1,000 locations over land worldwide.
Fig. 4 shows the vertical change in the globally averaged temperature between 1958 and 2007
from the dataset. It indicates that temperatures in the troposphere (pressures greater than 200
hPa) increased and temperatures in the stratosphere (pressures less than 200 hPa) decreased
during thisperiod. Both trends (near-surface warming and strato-
spheric cooling) are consistent with the theory of global warming. The reason for the
stratospheric cooling relative to the surface warming in Fig. 5 is that absorption of rising
thermal-IR radiation by greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide, in the lower and
midtropo- sphere reduces transfer of that radiation to the upper troposphere and stratosphere,
where some of it would otherwise be absorbed by natural and anthropogenic greenhouse
gases. In other words, the addition of green- house gases to the air lowers the altitude of
heating that occurs in the atmosphere, warming the surface and cool- ing the stratosphere.
Surface warming and stratospheric cooling, observed in the radiosonde data, are simulated in
models when carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are added to the air. Athirdtype of
temperature dataset is the microwave sounding unit (MSU) satellite dataset, compiled since
1979 (Spencer and Christy, 1990). Temperatures for this dataset are derived from a
comparison of the bright- ness or intensity of microwaves (with a wavelength of 5,000

m) emitted by molecular oxygen in the air. Reported temperatures from this dataset are
averages overahorizontal footprint of 110 km in diameter and a ve rtical thickness at 0 to 8
km (1,000–350 hPa). Thus, the satellite dataset represents temperatures high above the
boundary layer (e.g., on the order of 4 km), not at the surface of the Earth. Some errors in the
MSU measurements arise because a portion of the radiation measured by the MSU originates
from the Earth’s surface, not from the atmosphere (Hurrell and Trenberth, 1997). In addition,
raindrops and large ice crystals can cause the MSU instrument to slightly underpredict
temperatures in rain-forming clouds. Finally, temperatures from 0 to 8 km are not measured
directly but estimated from an equation that relies on temperatures estimated by the satellite
at different altitudes centered around 7 km. The equation does not account for the variation of
air den- sity with altitude. Nevertheless, the MSU dataset shows global temperature increases
from 0 to 8 km since 1979and stratospheric cooling from 14 to 22 km, relatively
consistent with the radiosonde data and the theory of global warming. In sum, three types of
global temperature measurements all show global warming. The two types that mea- sure
near-surface temperatures (surface and radiosonde) both show strong global warming. The
two types that measure stratospheric temperatures (radiosonde and satellite) both show
cooling, which is consistent with the theory of global warming. The underlying reason for the
surface warming and simultaneous stratospheric cooling is the increase in human-emitted
pollutants. This physical phenomenon has been demonstrated repeatedly by computer models
since the early 1970s.

Consequences of Global Warming

Projections suggest that carbon dioxide mixing ratios may increase from about 393 ppmv in
2011 to 730 to 1,040 ppmv in 2100. During this period, global near-surface temperatures may
increase by a mean estimated range of 1.8 K to 4 K, depending on the future emission
scenario assumed (IPCC, 2007).

Loss of Ice/Rise in Sea Level

Increases in temperatures affect sea levels in at least two ways. First, higher temperatures
enhance the melting of sea ice, ice sheets, and glaciers, adding water to the oceans. Second,
because liquid-water density decreases with increasing temperature, higher temperatures
cause sea water to expand and sea levels to rise. Historical changes in global temperature
correlate with changes in sea levels. When the Earth’s temperature peaked during the mid-
Cretaceous period 120 to 90 m.y.a., the Earth’s polar caps melted, sea levels rose to
unprecedented levels, and 20 percent of continental land flooded. Today, snow, sea ice, and
glaciers cover 3.3 percent of the Earth’s total surface area. The volume of ice worldwide in
all forms is about 25 million km3, representing about 70 m of sea level, or just less than 2
percent of the average worldwide ocean depth of 3,800 m. Ice is stored in the East and West
Antarctic ice sheets, the Greenland ice sheet, sea ice over the Arctic, the large valley and
piedmont glaciers of southeast Alaska, and the glaciers of central Asia. About 55 m of sea
level is stored in the East Antarctic ice sheet, about 5 m in the west sheet, about 7 m in the
Greenland ice sheet, and about 3 m in the remaining ice. If all this ice melts, the sea level will
rise by about 70 m above its current level. This will result in about 7 percent of the current
world’s land area that is above sea level being below sea level.
During the twentieth century, sea levels rose 1.8 mm yr−1; however, from 1993 to 2009, the
rate increased to 3.4 ± 0.4 mm yr−1. If this pace continues, sea levels will rise by 31 cm by
2100, putting about 0.015 percent of the current world’s land below sea level. If warming
accelerates, sea levels will rise more. The Mendenhall Glacier, Alaska (Fig. 6), provides an
example of the rate of receding glaciers. The glacier, located about 19 km from downtown
Juneau, is about 19 km long. The terminus of the glacier receded about 580 m from 1951 to
1958 and another 2.82 km from 1958 to 2011. Many other glaciers, such as the beautiful
Grey Glacier, Chile (Fig. 7), are also at risk. The Greenland ice sheet, which covers 1.71
million km2, is also dwindling.

Changes in Regional Climate, Severe Weather, and Agriculture

Global warming is causing regional and temporal climate variations. The number of
extremely hot days is increasing, and the number of extremely cold days is decreasing. By
increasing evaporation, global warming is increasing precipitation particularly over land.
Precipitation changes over the ocean are more modest by comparison. In some cases, higher
precipitation is in the form of more snow, resulting from more water vapor at those altitudes
in the atmosphere where temperatures are below the freezing point. Global warming is also
increasing droughts in some areas and floods in others. Higher sea-surface temperatures due
to global warming increase hurricane intensity but not necessarily their number. Data
analysis suggests a correlation between higher sea-surface temperatures and increased
hurricane intensity in the North Atlantic and western North Pacific oceans and an increase in
the number of the most intense hurricanes since the 1970. However, changes in the overall
number of hurricanes appear to be due more to a natural cycle than anthropogenic influence.
Changes in regional climate cause a shift in the location of viable agriculture. Although some
crops now flourish in areas that were once too cold or too dry, others have died in regions
that have become too hot or too wet. Citrus crops, in particular, require a certain number of
cooling degree days to survive. Many citrus farms are no longer viable in their original
location due to winter temperature increases that have already occurred. Because plants grow
faster when temperatures, carbon dioxide levels, or water vapor levels mildly increase (plant-
carbon dioxide negative feedback), some forms of agriculture are expected to flourish in
areas where only mild increases in temperature and moisture occur. In areas where extreme
temperature increases occur, agriculture will die out. Of particular concern are subtropical
desert regions of Africa, where temperatures are already high. In these regions, agriculture is
subject to the whims of the climate, and millions of people depend on the local food supply.
Small increases in temperature could trigger famine in these areas, as has occurred in the
past.

Changes in Ocean Acidity and Ecosystems

The increase in atmospheric CO2(g) increases the amount of dissolved and dissociated
carbonic acid in the ocean. The dissociation of carbonic acid increases the H+ concentration
in the ocean, decreasing the ocean pH, resulting in ocean acidification. The pH of the ocean
today is above 8 because of the high concentrations of cations (Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, K+) in
ocean water. Due to CO2(g) buildup in the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution, the
pH of the ocean declined from about 8.25 to 8.14 between 1751 and 2004. If atmospheric
CO2(g) continues to increase unabated, the pH is estimated to decline to about 7.85 by 2100.
This pH decrease represents a factor of 2.5 increase in the H+ concentration between 1751
and 2100. Ocean acidification damages coral reefs, which are made of calcium carbonate
secreted by corals. Corals consist of living polyps, attached at their base to the coral reef, that
cluster in groups and secrete calcium carbonate to form a solid exoskeleton. The greater the
acidity of water, the more readily calcium carbonate dissolves by the reverse of Reaction
3.17. Between 1990 and 2008, the coral growth of the Great Barrier Reef off Australia
declined by about 13 percent, much greater than during any time in the past 400 years. Ocean
acidification similarly makes it more difficult for noncoral sea life to form and maintain
shells from calcium carbonate. It also directly damages fish that are accustomed to a narrow
pH range. Over land, rapid, continuous increases in temperature will lead to the extinction of
some species that are accustomed to narrow climate conditions and are unable to migrate
faster than the rate of global warming. Although enhanced CO2(g) levels generally invigorate
forests, sharp increases in temperature associated with higher CO2(g) can lead to forest
dieback in tropical regions, affecting the rates of CO2(g) removal by photosynthesis and
emission by respiration.

Changes in Heat Stress

Global warming affects human health by increasing heat stress. In warm climates, higher
temperatures increase heat stress–related health problems, including mortality, more than
they do in milder climates. People currently living in cold climates are likely to experience
little or no heat stress. Heat-related health problems, such as heat rash, heat stroke, and death,
generally affect the elderly and those suffering from illnesses more than they affect the
general population.

Changes in Disease
Increases in land precipitation as a result of global warming increase the populations of
mosquitoes and several other insects that carry disease. Furthermore, because malaria is not
transmitted below a certain temperature, rising temperatures will increase the spread of
malaria to places previously too cold for it to thrive, including higher latitudes and
mountains. Similarly, influenza occurs year-round in the tropics because of the warm
climate. Higher year-round temperatures at higher latitudes will likely lengthen the flu
season. In addition, drought in rural areas may drive populations toward cities, where
diseases transmit more readily than in rural areas.

Changes in Air Pollution

Most major greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and CFCs,
do not cause direct harmful human health problems at normal ambient mixing ratios.
However, other greenhouse gases, such as ozone and carbon monoxide, do. In addition, soot
particles containing black carbon are dangerous to health. However, global warming itself
affects the concentrations of health-affecting air pollutants, such as ozone and particulate
matter. Because greenhouse gases are long lived, they eventually become well mixed in the
global atmosphere. Near emission sources, such as over cities, though, greenhouse gas
mixing ratios are higher than they are in the global atmosphere because emission rates over
cities exceed dilution rates to the global environment. In the case of carbon dioxide, the high
mixing ratio over a city is referred to as a carbon dioxide dome. CO2(g) domes enhance the
formation rate of air pollution. Methane can also form a dome over a city and have a similar
impact. Both well-mixed greenhouse gases away from cities and carbon dioxide domes over
cities increase not only tropospheric temperatures, but also water vapor due to evaporation
caused by the higher temperatures. If chemistry alone is considered, higher temperatures and
higher water vapor both independently increase surface ozone in polluted air but cause little
change in surface ozone in clean air.

Changes in Stratospheric Ozone

Whereas greenhouse gases warm the troposphere, they cool the stratosphere. The reason is
that greenhouse gases in the troposphere prevent significant thermal-IR radiation emitted by
the Earth’s surface from reaching the stratosphere, where such radiation would otherwise be
absorbed by ozone and background carbon dioxide, warming the stratosphere. Black carbon
and brown carbon particles also warm the troposphere by absorbing solar radiation, but
tropospheric BC and BrC have relatively little temperature effect in the stratosphere because
of their relatively modest absorption of the Earth’s thermal-IR radiation. However, aircraft
emissions of black carbon go directly into the stratosphere at high latitudes, particularly over
the Arctic. Such emissions affect Arctic stratospheric and tropospheric temperatures.
Tropospheric warming due to greenhouse gases and absorbing aerosol particles increases the
evaporation of water from the oceans and soils, and some of this water vapor reaches the
stratosphere. Between 1954 and 2000, for example, stratospheric water vapour increased 1
percent per year (0.45 ppmv per decade). This trend reversed itself slightly in the lower
stratosphere from 2001 to 2005, possibly due to changes in atmospheric circulation.
However, stratospheric water vapour appears to have increased again from 2006 to 2010.
Stratospheric cooling and water vapor increase affect the ozone layer in at least four ways.
First, in the stratosphere (at 25 km), a decrease in temperature due to tropospheric global
warming increases ozone when only the temperature dependence of gas chemistry is
considered. As stratospheric temperature decreases, ozone increases, due primarily to the
slower loss rate of ozone at higher temperature by the reaction O(g) + O3(g) . In addition,
although most reactions proceed more slowly when temperature decreases, the reaction O(g)
+ O2(g) + M→O3(g) + M occurs more rapidly when temperature decreases. Thus, when only
temperature effects on chemistry are considered, a cooling of the stratosphere slightly
increases global stratospheric ozone. Second, as water vapor increases in the stratosphere
due to global warming, OH(g) increases, accelerating the HOx(g) catalytic ozone destruction
cycle and decreasing ozone. Thus, when only the effect of the increase in stratospheric water
vapor on chemistry is considered, global warming slightly destroys stratospheric ozone. This
loss mechanism of ozone with increasing water vapor is important in the stratosphere, but not
at the surface. Third, stratospheric cooling decreases the saturation vapor pressure of water,
allowing more water vapor to condense onto stratospheric sulfuric acid-water aerosol
particles, causing them to grow larger. The increase in the size of these aerosol particles
increases the rates of chemical reaction on their surfaces. Because such reactions convert
CFC and HCFC by-products to more active chlorine gases that photolyze to products that
destroy ozone, a decrease in stratospheric temperature reduces global stratospheric ozone
when only the effect of cooling on aerosol particle size is considered. Fourth, stratospheric
cooling increases the occurrence, size, and lifetime of PSCs. Type I PSCs form below195 K,
and Type II PSCs form below 187 K. Stratospheric cooling increases the frequency of
temperatures below these critical levels during winter, increasing Types I and II PSC lifetime
and size, enhancing polar ozone loss. Some polar ozone loss to date is due to increased PSC
formation caused by stratospheric cooling that accompanies near-surface global warming. In
sum, stratospheric cooling resulting from near surface global warming has opposing effects
on global stratospheric ozone, but causes a net destruction of ozone over the Antarctic and
Arctic. Although emissions of CFCs are decreasing and global and Antarctic stratospheric
ozone losses are expected to recover during the next 50 years or so, stratospheric cooling due
to global tropospheric warming will delay the recovery by
one to two decades or more.

Regulatory Control of Global Warming

Global warming is an international, national, and local problem. All nations emit greenhouse
gases and soot particles. Figure shows that the top three countries emitting carbon dioxide in
2007 were China, the United States, and India. China’s share of the world total increased
from 13.9 to 21.3 percent between 1997 and 2007.
Possible societal responses to global warming include mitigation by emissions
reduction, adaptation to its effects, building systems resilient to its effects, and possible
future climate engineering. Most countries are parties to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),[18] whose ultimate objective is to prevent
dangerous anthropogenic climate change.[19] Parties to the UNFCCC have agreed that deep
cuts in emissions are required[20] and that global warming should be limited to well below
2.0 °C (3.6 °F) compared to pre-industrial levels,[b] with efforts made to limit warming to
1.5 °C (2.7 °F)
Global warming is a scientific issue, but its control has economic ramifications, causing it to
be a divisive political issue. Many industries and energy companies currently rely on
combustion of fossil fuels for their viability, so they resist regulations that might increase
their costs or cause them to go out of business. They resist changes even though total costs to
society as a whole, which include air pollution and climate costs, would decrease if fossil
fuels were eliminated in favour of cleaner energy sources. Furthermore, many newly
industrialized nations find that increasing the use of fossil fuels is the easiest method of
expanding their economies. However, an expansion of an economy with fossil fuel use comes
at the price of higher air pollution, health costs, climate costs, and other environmental costs,
with no demonstrable benefit in job creation because jobs would be created in clean
industries as well.
Unlike regulations addressing urban air pollution, acid rain, and global ozone loss,
regulations addressing global warming have been relatively weak. Worldwide, vehicle
emission standards for CO(g), BC, and ozone precursors based on health grounds have
unintentionally but fortuitously reduced some of the pollution causing global warming. Also,
CAFÉ standards in the United States have indirectly reduced some carbon dioxide emissions
from the transportation sector. U.S. federal tax code incentives since the late 1970s for the
development of renewable energy and improvements in energy efficiency have also indirectly
addressed the issue. Other renewable energy incentives, such as the feed-in-tariff in Germany
and approximately thirty other countries starting in 2000, similarly provided a small benefit.
Nevertheless, simultaneous tax incentives have existed for the development of fossil fuel
energy sources in many countries. In the 1980s, tax incentives for clean energy sources in the
United States were severely reduced, whereas those for fossil fuels were enhanced.
Although all countries tax fuels to some extent, Den- mark, the Netherlands, Finland,
Norway, and Sweden specifically implemented carbon taxes on fuel in the mid-1990s.
Denmark taxed all carbon dioxide emission sources, except gasoline, natural gas, and bio-
fuels. The Netherlands taxed all energy sources used as fuel, and Finland taxed all fossil
fuels. Norway taxed mineral oil, gasoline, gas burned in marine oil fields, coal, and coke.
Sweden taxed oil, kerosene, natural gas, coal, coke, and other sources. Nevertheless, these
efforts have done little to stop the rapid growth in greenhouse gas and particle black carbon
emissions worldwide.
The Kyoto Protocol
On May 9, 1992, an international agreement addressing global warming, hashed out in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, was adopted at the United Nations. The agreement, the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change, called on signatory nations to develop current
and projected emission inventories for greenhouse gases, devise policies (to be implemented
at a later meeting) for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and promote technologies for
reducing emissions. By 1994, 184 nations had signed the agreement, and most had
ratified it. In 1995, the nations involved in the convention met in Berlin, Germany, to discuss
details of the proposed policies and target dates for implementing them. In December 1997,
the nations met again for an 11- day conference in Kyoto, Japan, to finalize the policies
proposed at the Berlin meeting. The conference resulted in the Kyoto Protocol, an
international agreement designed to fight global warming by controlling the emission of
greenhouse gases. According to the agreement, industrialized countries were required to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions for the first commitment period (2008–2012). Such gases
included carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs),
perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride [SF6(g)]. Reductions in CO2(g), CH4(g),
and N2O(g) emissions would be relative to 1990 emissions. Reductions in the emission of
others gases would be relative to either 1990 or 1995 emissions. Emissions reductions did not
apply to emissions from international shipping and aviation.