The International Response
The Climate Change Convention and the Kyoto Protocol
The world’s climate has always varied naturally, but compelling evidence from around the world indicates that a new kind of climate change is now underway, foreshadowing drastic impacts on people, economies, and ecosystems. Levels of carbon dioxide and other "greenhouse gases" in the atmosphere have risen steeply during the industrial era owing to human activities like deforestation and heavy fossil fuel use, spurred on by economic and population growth. Like a blanket around the planet, greenhouse gases trap heat energy in the Earth’s lower atmosphere. If levels rise too high, the resulting overall rise in air temperatures — global warming…
