Environmental Studies - Global Warming Research Paper

Environmental Studies - Global Warming - Research Paper Example However, the aspect that cannot be disputed is that these human induced advancements, inventions and discoveries are happening at the cost of earth’s environment. Yes, technological advancements and industrial revolution, initiated by the men, have led to an increase in emission of greenhouse gases, burning of fossil fuels and that eventually led to global warming. Global Warming refers to rise in earth’s temperature due to the emission of green house gases, deforestation and burning of fossil fuels. It is no doubt that Earth is warming faster than ever before in history. The increasing temperature is, however, thought to come about because of the various human activities. However, at the same time, there is a view that global warming is a naturally occurring phenomenon, and the human activities in quest of development and comfort do not contribute to it. Thus, this paper even while discussing whether global warming is due to human actions or whether they do not contrib ute maximally to it, will take a concluding stance that it is human-induced. Background Earth’s temperatures depend on the balance between input of the sun and terrestrial radiation or its loss back into the atmosphere. There are gases that are critical when it comes to the balance of that temperature. This group of gases has a common name: greenhouse gases. Energy from the sun is in the form of shortwave radiation. Approximately, a third of the solar radiation that hits earth’s surface gets reflected back into the atmosphere. The remaining radiation is absorbed mainly by land and oceans. This, therefore, results into an increase in the warming of the earth’s surface. The surface subsequently emits long-wave radiation. At this point, if there are greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the radiation is trapped, thereby, warming the atmosphere. The gases form a blanket on earth thus increasing the temperatures by 35 degrees (Theodore, 2004). Role of human induced Gre enhouse gases in global warming Scientists believe that human activities have a direct impact on the increased levels of greenhouse gases on the earth surface. Global warming occurs because of the massive greenhouse gases, for instance, carbon dioxide and methane. Human activities are the main cause of the increase in green house gases. Global warming is characterized by rise in sea levels, melting of glaciers and ice caps, change in climatic conditions and rainfall patterns, etc. For the last 20 million years, research has it that burning of fuels has tremendously given rise to high carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere. A recent report by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change shows that there is a vivid evidence for 0.6 degrees Celsius increase in global temperatures and about 20cm rise in the general sea level. In addition, sea ice thickness in Arctic Ocean has gone down by approximately 40% (Theodore, 2004). Mountains, on the other hand, are also recording the fastest ever experienced glacier melting rate. In North Atlantic region, there has been a constant rise in storm activities, drought, and floods. Prediction made by IPCC suggests that by 2100, there shall be arise in global temperatures by 5.4 degrees Celsius (Theodore, 2004). Generation of Greenhouse Gases has increased due to Human activities A simple way to prove Global Warming is happening and real is to refer to the earth’s temperature database of the previous years and compare the same with the current

Should the IMF and World Bank cancel all the debts of poor countries Research Paper

Should the IMF and World Bank cancel all the debts of poor countries C.Q. Researcher, September 28, 2001, vol. 11, issue - Research Paper Example A good example is the oil crisis of 1973 whereby oil prices escalated forcing governments of many developing countries to borrow heavily from the IMF, the World Bank and other creditors to procure much needed oil supplies. Much of this borrowed capital was spent on noncapital generating ventures or was lost through corruption. This means that these countries were mostly unable to channel these borrowed funds into their economies to fuel economic growth that would in the near future generate the capital necessary to pay off the debt (Palley, 2003, p. 83). Review Proponents of debt abolition have been advocating heavily for cancellation of all debts of poor countries. The most prominent of these is the Jubilee Debt Coalition, a UK-based coalition of local groups and organizations calling for the cancellation of heavy debts owed by developing countries. The issue of debt cancellation is important because heavy debts which are not payable prevent the eradication or reduction of poverty i n the third world. The World Bank and IMF are party to the Millennium Development Goals one of the main aims of which is to significantly reduce the number of the world’s people living below the poverty line (Pettifor, 2003, p. 71 – 73). ... xperiences of countries such as Nigeria, Afghanistan and Iraq indicate that this general lack of insecurity provides a conducive environment for the growth of terrorist organizations with a global reach. These terrorists pose a serious threat to the national security of all countries, including developed countries. The arguments proposed by both proponents and opponents of debt cancellation have their strengths and weaknesses. Proponents include organizations such as the Jubilee Debt Coalition, experts such as renowned economists in the US, and policy makers in the US and the European Union. They have put forward a number of good arguments. Firstly, they argue that many of the loan deals have terms that are unfair to the borrowing poor countries. According to Palley (2003) the interest rates are usually set very high because many of the developing countries are desperate and they borrow on short notice (p. 86). For this reason, the loans end up being very expensive, an unfortunate si tuation considering that the developing countries are the poorest yet they often receive loans that are more expensive than those received by developed countries. In fact, many countries have already paid the amounts they owed several times over because the debt grows faster than they can pay due to high interest. Therefore, it is only fair that the World Bank and the IMF cancel these debts while it is working on a solution to ensure that in future, terms of loans consider the state of a country’s economy and its rate of economic development. Secondly, proponents argue that debt needs to be cancelled in order to harmonize goals of the United Nations with those of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The UN’s Millennium Development Goals heavily emphasize the reduction of