It's practically impossible to listen to the radio, watch television, or read a newspaper without hearing about global climate change. The majority of scientists agree that action needs to be taken to stop, and eventually reverse, the trend of global warming. Economists debate the cost of solutions versus the financial benefits of adaptation to new climate conditions.

The Greenhouse Effect

Agents causing global warming work collectively to increase the earth's temperature. Greenhouse gases — such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ground-level ozone — trap heat within the atmosphere, causing a warming effect similar to that in a greenhouse.

Changes in land use have also impacted global climate change but not to the degree that greenhouse gases have. Clearing forest land for development increases the warming. Since trees absorb carbon dioxide and convert it to oxygen, cutting them down without replacing them means more carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere.

The result is global warming and an increased potential for far-reaching consequences. Storms may become more severe, biodiversity may be adversely affected as ecosystems change, and polar icecaps may melt, causing ocean water levels to rise. Large-scale environmental impacts can increase potential dangers to public health.

The World Community

The world today seems much smaller than it was mere decades ago. Little can happen in one part of the globe that doesn't eventually affect another place half a world away. No one person, no one country, no one continent is truly independent.

World agencies recognize this fact and work together toward consensus on topics such as protecting sensitive coral reefs and diverse ocean populations, managing forests to allow logging while maintaining sustainable growth, ensuring air quality not just for individual communities but the world over, reducing the damaging effects of fossil fuel, and understanding the impacts of chemicals on people and the environment. However, individual efforts are essential to help improve all aspects of the environment. No one person is independent of other living things, and no one ecosystem is independent of the others.

In 1997, under the auspices of the United Nations, representatives met in Kyoto, Japan, to discuss global air quality. The result was the Kyoto treaty, an international framework for managing greenhouse gases and improving air quality. The agreement binds nations to restrict their greenhouse gas emissions over time. Developed nations must submit to more stringent restrictions than developing nations. The goal is for each developed nation to release fewer greenhouse gases by 2012 than it did in 1990.

The target emissions rates were negotiated on a country-by-country basis. Developing nations are exempt from reducing emissions until 2012. To date, more than 160 nations have ratified the treaty, including 35 developed nations. The United States and Australia have refrained from ratifying the treaty, claiming it would cost jobs and hurt their domestic economies.

Countries in the European Union, in compliance with the Kyoto treaty, limit the amount of carbon dioxide individual power plants and other large sources of emissions are allowed to produce within a certain time frame. Facilities whose emissions fall below the emissions cap can sell credits to facilities that overshoot their target emissions.

The amount of carbon dioxide facilities are allowed to produce will be gradually reduced over time, resulting in fewer emissions. Since carbon dioxide is one of the principle culprits in global warming, carbon trading has been lauded as a way to offset emissions. In 2008, the European Union is expected to phase in regulations incorporating more industries and more greenhouse gases.

In the United States, some states are looking to renewable energy sources — wind, water, and solar energy — for electricity. To date, 23 states and the District of Columbia have set standards for how much of their electricity must be generated by renewable sources.

Individuals can offset their own carbon production using a variety of measures. They can determine their impact on global warming by calculating the amount of carbon dioxide they produce. Calculations are based on size of household, miles driven and types of cars, air miles flown, and the amount of garbage generated. Web sites such as The Conservation Fund not only assist people with the calculations, they also accept donations to plant the number of trees needed to offset a household's carbon production. In theory, the trees produce enough oxygen to make up for the amount of carbon dioxide individuals generate.