Global Warming

  There is a huge conflict over the costs of addressing the greenhouse gas problem. "There appears to be a general agreement that energy efficiency is the wave of the future." Many in the environmental community see the benefits as high and the costs of mitigation as low. Others, including some in the business community, see the benefits as low and the costs as high . "One argument states that  the  efficiency could  reduce carbon dioxide emissions by sixty percent over the next 20 years and save money; but another claims that a reduction of twenty percent below 1990 levels would cause a drop in the U.S. Gross Domestic Product by 1 to 2 percent".

  "As great as the challenge of reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the industrialized world is, the challenge of reductions in the rapidly industrializing developing countries is huge." By the year 2030, China is expected to be the largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world . We cannot address climate change without an international framework.. If a  ton of carbon were emitted in the United States and a ton of carbon were emitted in China, both would have the same effect on the climate in Washington, DC. Only through the concerted actions of all the countries of the world, developed as well as less developed, will the problem of global climate change be meaningfully addressed.

   The solutions to the problems lie in developing an understanding of and a respect for that ecosystem as well as providing people with  mechanisms to express that understanding in their daily choices. Each individual's perception of what, if anything, to do is strongly influenced by personal values, experience, education , training, and outlook in how to cope with uncertainty. These personal variations affect one's definition of the issue, and the weight one gives possible approaches to it. This is not just stating the obvious that economists, lawyers, biologists, atmospheric scientists, and others bring different expertise to the issue, or that optimists and pessimists can see the same glass as half full and half empty; this is highlighting the fact that the magnitude of uncertainty emphasizes those differences that would apply even if the facts concerning global climate change were undeniable.

  Even if the human-caused emissions of greenhouse gases were to stop right now, it would take hundreds of years for the atmosphere to return to its pre-industrial

 form. In the meantime, global climate change would likely continue.

 We can slow down the rate of atmospheric change by cutting back on the amount of greenhouse gases we pour into the air. This will require a considerable change in our fuel consumption, industrial practices and lifestyles . But it's definitely worth the effort because a slow alteration in global climate would be much easier to adapt to than a fast one.

 Uncertainties about global warming are so great that it is not possible now to say whether the net result has been, or will be, beneficial or harmful to forest growth and composition or to the subsequent management and use of forest resources. The only certainties are that: greenhouse gases are accumulating; that the greenhouse effect is real; and that some future global warming is possible as a result.