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Freak Weather - apocalypse now or storm in a teacup?
The International Response - Action or Inertia?
The Kyoto Protocol [PDF format], signed by world leaders in December 1997 in Japan, was the first binding international agreement requiring industrialised countries to cut emissions of the main greenhouse gases. As with most such agreements, the deal was reached only after last minute negotiations. This left many
of the details unresolved. Attempting to achieve full agreement, environment ministers from around the world met during the first fortnight of November, in Buenos Aires, Argentina to devise rules so that the Kyoto plans can become a reality.
Rapid changes in global temperatures have occurred in the past 30 years. The'greenhouse effect', where industrial gases such as carbon dioxide trap the sun's heat in the upper atmosphere, is now seen as the chief cause.
A UN-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change comprising the world's leading atmosphere scientists, has produced a report which was sent to governments, prior to the Buenos Aires conference, suggesting that the degree to which global warming will affect the world in this century has been under-estimated.
The report's worst-case scenario foresees average global temperature increasing by 6 degrees Celsius above the 1990 level. The impact of this will be felt most deeply by poor countries which are expected to suffer refugee crises, crop failures and extreme weather. Most carbon emissions (the main greenhouse gas) are from rich countries: the USA is responsible for 23 % of carbon
emissions, Britain for 3 % - the same as for the whole of Africa.
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