Gonzalez-Dees Jared Gonzalez-Dees Keaton Eng 111 27 June 2013 Global Warming Solutions

The topic of Global Warming has been cause for heated debate as well as concern and annoyance for many years now. Global Warming is the substantial change in Earths climate and lasts for an extended period of time (YeSeul, et al 1). This has led some to believe that this might be the cause of the loss of Arctic ice. The causes of this phenomenon have been widely debated by scientists and onlookers alike. More importantly the solutions to this problem have been the real meat of any discussion and are what this paper will be discussing. Global warming is caused by a build up of green house gasses in the atmosphere such as carbon dioxide (CO2) as well as many other potentially harmful gases. The purpose of any green house gas is to trap some heat from the sun and send it back to the Earths surface thereby warming the Earth. As with any substance these gasses are harmless in the correct amount, but in amounts larger than are natural that can be a different story. Many people have wondered what could possibly be done to reduce or stop the emission of these gasses into the atmosphere. One solution would be the capping of industrial and power plants so as to limit the amount of pollutants that are being sent into the air. The Environmental Protection Agency has the power under the Clean Air Act to set limits for carbon pollution from major sources (nrdc.org) According to the Natural Resources Defense Council roughly forty percent of total emissions for the U.S comes

Gonzalez-Dees from power plants (nrdc.org). Plants have been required to use devices called scrubbers to trap toxic pollutants that would other wise be sent into the air and stay within federal clean air limits. The second largest factor in air pollution comes from the vehicles that humanity uses for transportation everyday. These cars, busses, planes, motorcycles, along with other fossil fueled vehicles all burn fossil fuels in order to function and transport people to whatever destination the intend on going to. The world needs to break its addiction to

oil and other fossil fuels and manufacture fuel-efficient vehicles. Such vehicles as the fuel cell powered car, which have the potential to reduce the dependence on oil, and lower the harmful emissions that contribute to climate change. These cars run on hydrogen gas rather than gasoline and do not emit any harmful tailpipe emissions only pure water vapor. Although according to the government website www.fueleconomy.org several challenges must be overcome before these vehicles will be competitive with conventional vehicles, but the potential benefits of this technology are outstanding. Some advisories of this technology are quick to point out the drawbacks of the FCVs such as the cost of the vehicle, or the durability and reliability of the fuel cell itself. These fuel cell systems are not as durable as internal combustion engines, this is even more apparent in some temperatures and humidity ranges. The problems that plague the Human race seem to be easier to be dealt with when humanity bands together. In 2009 The Copenhagen Summit was made to replace the Kyoto Protocol and set new goals for 2012 and beyond (wol.jw.org). This new protocol was faced with three primary challenges. According to an article found on the website of the organization of Jehovahs Witnesses those three challenges are,

Gonzalez-Dees 1. Reaching legally binding agreements. Would developed countries accept the

necessary emission caps or limits, and would the major developing countries limit the growth of their emissions. 2. Financing a perpetual solution. The developing countries would need billions of dollars for many years in order to cope with the accelerating consequences of global warming and to generate environmentally clean technology. 3. Agreeing on a model for monitoring emissions. Such a model would help individual countries stay within their emission limits. It would also help to ensure that developing countries use donated funds properly. This was one step forward in a positive direction despite the challenges the protocol faces its constituents have high hopes that it can truly help with put an end to the emission of too many pollutants into the atmosphere. Which will ultimately lower the surface temperature of the Earth. While all of these solutions have their own strengths and weaknesses alone none of them will be able to do any lasting good. As previously stated the human race does its best work when it bands together under a common goal and focuses on achieving it. If all these solutions were to be consolidated into one overall plan then it would have more a lasting effect on the planet.

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Works Cited "wol.jw.org." wol.jw.org. Watchtower Association of Jehovah's Witnesses, 1 July 2013. Web. 1 Jul 2013. www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/fcv_benefits.shtml. U.S Department of Energy, 13 May 2013. Web. 1 Jul 2013. YeSeul, Kim, Erika Granger, Katie Puckett`, Cankutan Hasar, Lief Francel, et al. "Global Warming: Definition." n.d. 1. Web. 1 Jul. 2013.

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