You are a diplomat concerned with the effects of climate change on the small island country you represent. Prepare a diplomatic communication to the goverment of a country which is not party to Kyoto expressing and seeking support for your goverment`s vie

On Kyoto Protocol and Climate Change

There is strong scientific evidence of climate change and mounting evidence of a connection with human economic activity associated with the burning of fossil fuels . The change in climate is likely to have a large and predominantly negative impact on many aspects of life on Earth (IPCC , 2001

Some of the sunlight that arrives to earth is reflected back into the space , but the rest reaches the surface , warming the land , atmosphere and oceans . The earth re-emits this energy in the form of infrared radiation . However

, greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide , ozone methane , etc . trap this radiation and prevent its escape , thus causing increases in temperature . It is a fact that carbon dioxide (C02 ) is responsible for over 70 of the greenhouse effect . The result of the greenhouse effect is a warming of the earth surface . Without these greenhouse gases its surface would be up to 30 ?C cooler . Thus , we need these gases to an extent sufficient to survive (Dalton , 2006

Humans contribute to greenhouse gas concentrations and , thus , an even greater radiation trap through manufacturing , power generation transportation , and livestock farming . The burning of coal , oil and natural gas is the key human factor in increasing greenhouse gas emissions because these fossil fuels are being used at a much faster rate than they were created . What is worrisome is the fact that climate change resulting from the buildup of greenhouse gases appears to be happening at unprecedented speed . According to Stern (2006 , that over the past 30 years , global temperatures have risen rapidly and continuously at around 0 .2 ?C per decade , bringing the global mean temperature to what is probably at or near the warmest level reached in the current interglacial period , which began around 12 ,000 years ago The decade of the 1990s was the warmest since the mid-1800s , when record-keeping started . Further , the hottest years ever recorded are 1998 , 2002 , 2003 , 2001 , and 1997 . Estimates suggest that by the year 2100 , the average global temperature will rise by 1 .4 to 5 .8 degrees Celsius (IPCC , 2001

The effects of climate change are becoming increasingly evident in my country , the Philippines . Cyclones and hurricanes appear to be more frequent and more powerful . As world temperatures rise , floods and droughts are becoming more severe . Scientists suggest that this is evidence that climate change has already begun . In fact , last year we have suffered three super typhoons , which is not an ordinary course of nature . In addition , other countries also experienced the unusual climate . The spring ice thaw in the Northern Hemisphere occurs 9 days earlier than it did 150 years ago , and the fall freeze now typically starts 10 days later . According to a United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC , arctic air temperatures have increased by about 5 degrees C during the 20th century , and in the Russian Arctic buildings are collapsing because the permafrost under their foundations has melted (UNFCCC ) The sea level may rise from...