Climate Change And Mexico

The Effect of Increased Greenhouse Gasses on Mexico and it's Effort to Reduce Environmental Damage

Introduction

For over a hundred years, scientists have been carefully gathering and verifying data on the earth's temperature. The latest data reveals some striking trends:All 10 of the warmest years on record have occurred in the last 15 years The 1990's have already been warmer than the 1980's- the warmest decade on record The global average surface temperature has risen 0.5 degrees (site source)For the first time ever, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the authoritative international body charged with studying this issue, concluded that the observed increase in global average temperature over the last century "is unlikely to be entirely natural in origin" and that "the balance of evidence suggests that there is a discernible human influence on global climate."The Earth's climate is the result of extremely complex interactions among the atmosphere, the oceans, the land masses, and living organisms, which are all warmed daily by the sun's enormous energy. This heat would radiate back into space if not for the atmosphere, which relies on a delicate balance of heat-trapping gases, including water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane, to act as a natural "greenhouse," keeping in just the right amount of the sun's energy to support life.For the past 150 years, though, the atmospheric concentrations of these gases, particularly carbon dioxide. Have been rising. As a result, more heat is being trapped than previously, which in turn is causing the global temperature to rise. Climate scientists have linked the increased levels of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere to human activities, in particular the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas for heating and electricity; gasoline for transportation) deforestation, cattle ranching, and rice farming.

Scientists still cannot predict the exact impact on the earth's climate of these rising levels of heat-trapping gases over the next century. But there is striking agreement among most climate scientists about what is likely to occur. Increasingly sophisticated climate models suggest that the planet will warm over the next century at a more rapid rate than ever before recorded. The current best estimate from the Intergovernmental Panel is that if carbon dioxide concentrations...

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...n turn will mean a much shorter growing season, food loss, and most of all population loss. ReferencesA brief view of the organization of the Mexican Republic. ["http://www.presidencia.gob.mx">on-line]Carnigie Mellon University page on Global Warming. ["http://www.gcrio.org/gwcc/figures/mainpg5a.gif";on-line]Green Globe Yearbook 1997: Relations to main international agreements and IGO's. [<a href="http://www.ext.grida.no/ggynet/agree/atmosphe/Irtap.htm">on-line] Greenpeace: Mexico likely to be drier...

["http://www.greenpeace.org/climate/database/records/zgpz0518.html">on-line]Impacts of global warming. ["http://www.epa.gov/global warming">on-line]Malkin, E. (1996) Is there light as the end of the power grid: Mexico is making it easier to build private electricity plants. Business Week, 3475, 116.Pennypacker, M. (1997) Habitat-saving habit.

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