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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Errors and Emissions Extrudedas reported by the NYT: In the debate on global climate change it has long been a given that China, with its huge population and endless coal reserves, would overtake the United States early this century as the biggest source of the atmospheric pollution that scientists believe is warming the planet.
That spectre of runaway Chinese emissions has been cited by President Bush as a major reason for describing as "fatally flawed" the 1997 Kyoto agreement to protect the climate. The treaty exempts developing countries, including China, from its initial, binding limits on the output of carbon dioxide and other so-called greenhouse gases that scientists believe are causing traumatic changes in the climate.
But treaty obligation or not, China has already achieved a dramatic slowing in its emissions of carbon dioxide in the last decade, Chinese and Western energy experts say….
"China's emissions of carbon dioxide have shrunk by 17 percent since the mid-1990's," according to an April report from researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California. "Remarkably, over the same period, G.D.P. grew by 36 percent. "http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/15/world/15CHIN
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 544
addict
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addict
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 544 |
What China needs is for all the senior officials in charge of the fossil fuel industry to take over the country.
Then they'll really be learning from the example of a developed country.
They'll be able to turn those numbers around one day, if they really try, and can become a world leader, just like us fool US'ns.
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
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Well done, Hyla.
...unfortunately, we seem to be (at least the rest of the world thinks it's "us") following them in participating (or even having a chance to) in protecting basic human rights.
I warned you's about pride, but you's wouldn't listen...
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Joined: Dec 2000
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addict
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only one country has actually signed said "agreement": Romania.
We need to be more careful with words than this - at the time of the writing, only one country may have ratified it (that is, had its legislative body, or some portion thereof [in the US it's the Senate that does this] vote to accept and implement it), but dozens had signed it, by having an official representative sign it. The US often begins operating according to treaty agreements prior to full ratification, as it can be a very involved process.
For the current status, from the UN web site: "as of 9-May-2001, 84 Parties have signed and 34 Parties have ratified or acceded to the Kyoto Protocol."
Sadly, progress on that front doesn't counter the argument that the US Senate is not likely to want to buy this particular doggie in the window. Harrumph®
(Note: Harrumph appears courtesy of AnnaStrophic Rantings Unlimited, all rights reserved)
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Joined: Jan 2001
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2001
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For the current status, from the UN web site: "as of 9-May-2001, 84 Parties have signed and 34 Parties have ratified or acceded to the Kyoto Protocol."Thanks for the clarification, Hyla. I guess I didn't do my homework well enough. 
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Joined: Jul 2000
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old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jul 2000
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One of the problems with this treaty, though, is that it ignores the fact that the US is more populous than almost all of the other nations in the treaty (I think we're third behind China and India) and we produce quite a bit of the products that other countries use. When we're the biggest industrial producer and main provider in the world economy how can we be expected to fit into such strict guidelines.
Don't get me wrong, I like the environment just as much as the next guy, but many of the pollution complaints are exaggerated. Some scientists have determined that all of the pollution that the human race has made throughout history is no more than the output of a volcano.
And can someone tell me what harm CO2 emissions are causing? Carbon dioxide is what plants "breathe". Perhaps the problem with the emissions is not industry, but greedy South American farmers who are tearing down the rain forest and thus lessening the number of plants that can suck in the CO2.
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I think JazzO has shed some clear light on C02... http://wordsmith.org/board/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=miscellany&Number=21128Subject Re: The trees of spring, tra la Posted by musick (member) Posted on Sun Mar 18 11:27:21 2001 (My apologies to those that have seen enough of this one...)
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Joined: Nov 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
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Speaking of bushes, and trees: In the dear dead days beyond recall, I interviewed a professor at University of New Hampshire (founded as a Land Grant College and very big on the environment) who said something I have never forgotten : he said that it takes four trees to replenish the oxygen for the average family. In those days (statistically) Mom, Dad and 2 1/2 children.
Since then have bought homes where requisite number of trees was present, or immediately planted a couple!
How does your tree-garden grow?
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636 |
I have many trees that line my driveway, would that they were not mulberry. They are much loved by the birds, I know, but they run straight through them and decorate my car in the processed and unprocessed form. I squish-walk to and from my car every day. This, too, shall pass.
consuelo
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