INTRODUCTION
The world’s climate is changing and it will continue to change throughout the 21st century and beyond. Rising temperatures, variable precipitation patterns, rising water levels due to melting icebergs and many other such changes are already affecting many aspects of the human society and the natural world.
Climate change is transforming ecosystems at extra ordinary rates and scales. It is a global change process but with diverse regional manifestations. Mankind has abused nature for far too long and would pay a heavy price unless urgent remedial measures are undertaken.
The aim of this document is to take a look at the measures already taken by mankind to reduce the effects of climate change and also suggest additional measure
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Of course, land and ocean temperature is not the only way to measure the effects of climate change. A warming world also has the potential to change rainfall and snow patterns, increase droughts and severe storms, reduce lake ice cover, melt glaciers, increase sea levels, and change plant and animal behavior http://news.discovery.com/earth/global-warming/10-signs-climate-change-is-already-happening-130422.htm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/629/629/6528979.stm#arctic
Some of the Key statistics / noticeable changes can be given as follows:
1) The rate of warming is unprecedented in atleast 11,000 years
2) The hottest decade on record keeps on changing : global mean temperatures have increased by approximately 1.33 degrees Fahrenheit (0.74 degrees Celsius) over the past century
3) Arctic Sea ice is in a “Death Spiral” : The extent of summer sea ice covering the Arctic Ocean is now decreasing by a rate of about 13 percent per decade, compared to the 1979-2000 average
4) On average, since 1993, the sea has been rising by 3.18 mm per year, primarily as a consequence of thermal expansion due to warming, and to the melting of ice
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It enforces binding obligations on industrialized countries to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. According to the UNFCC website, the Protocol recognizes that developed countries are principally responsible for the current high levels of GHG emissions in the atmosphere as a result of more than 150 years of industrial activity, and places a heavier burden on developed nations under the principle of 'common but differentiated responsibilities ' . This protocol was agreed upon by 191 countries as well as the European union. It is to be implemented in two stages First Commitment Period (2008-2012) Under the Kyoto Protocol, 37 industrialized countries and the European Community commit themselves to binding targets for GHG emissions. The targets apply to the four greenhouse gases carbon dioxide (CO
2), methane (CH
4), nitrous oxide (N
2O), sulphur hexafluoride(SF
6), and two groups of gases, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs).
These reduction targets are in addition to the industrial gases, chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, which are dealt with under the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone