Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • Free Essays • My Term Papers • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Government & Politics Global Policies Global Policies Based on historical recordings of the Earth’s temperatures over the past several decades, it is easy to see that within the past several years we have witnessed worldwide warming trends. This warming can be attributed to many aspects of natural temperature fluxes combined with human actions, commonly referred to as global warming. Based on these readings the two hottest recorded years have been within the past five years of our history, 1998 and 2001. Dramatic heating, as we have seen, creates only problems for modern society and for those in our future; it is left to the government to decide the outcome of our environment. Alarmingly warm temperatures in 1998 and 2001 have left environmentalists and others in a state of shock. El Nino, a natural phenomenon that warms ocean temperatures in the surface layers in the eastern and central equatorial Pacific Ocean, can explain the warmer climate in 1998. This is usually counteracted by another phenomenon, which we should have experienced in 2001, known as La Nina (GreenPeace.com). This increase in warmth leads to one large problem – the melting of the polar ice caps. Common knowledge tells us that when ice melts it transposes into water; however, where is all of this newly formed water going? As one might suspect, it is going into the backyards of all those lucky enough to own beachfront property – an estimated sea level rise of 6.38inches will occur by the year 2100. Rising sea level has already affected coastal farmland in such states as Florida, where the rise has contaminated farmland causing it to be useless. This unfortunately is only the beginning of problems we will face in the future due to this warming. Trapped within the ice is carbon dioxide, and in the process of the ice melting carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. Once in the atmosphere the carbon dioxide does nothing but harm to our ozone layer; because we have taken for granted the limited resource of fauna on our land. This fauna (aka trees and shrubbery) uses carbon dioxide to live, and within the process of giving themselves life they provide us with life by emitting the oxygen we breathe to live. With the depleted number of fauna unable to use the extra carbon dioxide the hole in the ozone layer becomes larger – it is already approximately ten million miles in diameter – the planet will continue to warm, and all we need to do is look at other planets to see what has happened when they have over heated. Geologists commonly use resources found within our environment to imply what may be found on other planets within our solar system. In recent studies several geologists discovered a form of bacteria living within the ice of the Arctic climate. Bacteria is not something many people would be excited to come in contact with, but in this case it opens doors for many ideas about life on other planets. As one travels further from the sun they should expect to get colder due to lack of solar energy reaching them. Being the third closest planet to the sun, the only place on Earth that comes close to those temperatures on colder planets is the Arctic. By finding bacterial life in our Arctic environment, one can come rather close to assuming there may be bacterial life on other planets. However, this does not mean that we should discount the current animals and life found in this frozen area of our Earth. Warm temperatures melt the ice the bacteria and animals live on, warm temperatures also create a more satisfying environment for certain insects (ever notice how mosquitoes come out in the summer and not winter?) that bother the indigenous life by introducing such things as new diseases. The release of carbon dioxide from melting ice is not the only thing creating the problems facing the environment. Aerosol cans, cows (number one producers of methane gas on the planet – and yes methane gas eats at the ozone too), plastics, and cars also add to the destruction of our ozone layer. This is where you, Mr. President, and the government come into action in saving our planet – thus saving our future offspring and ourselves. It appears as if everything we, as humans living in modern society, partake in affects the environment negatively somewhere. Why not take advantage of a bad situation and use what we have before we attempt to improve it? By utilizing the extra sun we are getting from burning a hole in our ozone layer, we could potentially maximize the extra solar energy. This idea has many benefits for mankind as a whole. Solar energy would allow for natural reserves of oil to naturally replenish without us using all that is currently available to us – and would thus allow for new areas thought being rich in oil to remain unharmed. Utilizing solar energy to the maximum would allow for the energy crisis to be solved, giving over one billion people a means of energy. In effect solving the problem of carbon dioxide in the environment - pushing for solar energy advancements would make a new market for all of the equipment needed to allow the average American to participate in the environmentally friendly plan. We would not only be giving one billion people renewable energy; but, we would also be creating over two million jobs, two million jobs for people that are having trouble currently finding work. With a new market open new trade would develop, and the only way our economy could move would be up – wouldn’t that be great, solve environmental issues, get people jobs, and boost our economy all in one little bill saying the government supports the issue of solar energy. By getting rid of Clinton’s environmental mistake, and forcing SUV’s to abide by the mileage requirements we, as a nation, would not only save money, but also save valuable resources. In one day as many as 300,000 barrels of fuel are used by SUV’s alone. For the small cost of $940 per SUV we could almost double the gas mileage on such cars as the Ford Explorer (Union of Concerned Scientists). The idea of using other sources of fuel also plays a large part in this new environmental revolution. Cars that burn hydrogen fuel are in the testing stage of production, and could be on the market relatively soon. By simply supporting new technology and research we could easily see cars that get over two hundred miles per gallon by the year 2004; however, it looks like the Europeans will beat us in having this car because the administration you lead cancelled the United States’ 2004 deadline for the prototype of such cars. This achievement would mean that for now the Alaskan terrain could remain unharmed for further generations to use in states of fuel emergencies. This decision would not only protect this land, it could also save the government in the upwards of twenty billion dollars annually, claims Green Peace: “At present, the federal government provides between about $5 billion and $12 billion a year in subsidies to the oil industry in the form of tax breaks, maintenance of coastal and inland shipping routes and taxpayer underwriting of oil companies' insurance and liability policies. Add in the cost of defending supplies from the Persian Gulf, and the total rises by about $20 billion.” This money could go towards much of the funding the government has cut since your Presidency began. Such things as: give back the fifty percent cut to research on renewable energy sources, withdraw the decision to cut twenty-eight percent of spending on research for more efficient cars, going towards a campaign promise (made by you) to give $100 annually towards the conservation of rain forests, give the money back to the Environmental Protection Agency that was cut from their budget, and the list goes on – any way you look at it the money would only be going back towards the guarantee of a future for the world. I understand that these claims are easier said than done Mr. President, but the entire process would lead to a chain reaction that would continue for generations to come. The first step in a process for you to achieve these goals would be to get an environmentalist in your administration, do away with people like Don Evans, and Gale Norton who head positions delegated to them directly concerning the future of our environment – and oddly enough none of these people seem that have done much concerning a clean future for the environment. While doing that, re-think the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. Any step, no matter how small, towards solving the predicament we are in concerning the state of our environment is one large enough to make a difference. Being a leading nation means that we, as a nation, need to especially show leadership in areas such as global warming. The decision to not support the protocol was based on two main factors. Leading the decision was a claim that not enough evidence exists that there is really global warming; however, such people as Edwin Feulner oppose this saying we need to take the same approach to everything, including missile defense: “Despite eight successful intercepts since 1999 (versus two highly publicized flops), we’re told missile defense won’t work, so why waste the money?” (TheHeritage.com). The other deciding factor was that it would only harm our economy, as stated previously adopting new technologies only seem to boost the economy and create jobs. In short, it is time for the United States to jump on the bandwagon. We need to show other nations, and ourselves, that we care about the state of our environment and will not allow it to deteriorate as it has been doing. Mr. President, the only plausible way to move concerning these issues is forward – yet we seem to be moving backwards. Thank you for your time, and I hope you take these issues to heart as much as I do. Only good can come out of fighting for our environment. Bibliography: Works Cited Duneier, Mitchell, and Giddens, Anthony. Introduction to Sociology. (W.W. Norton & Company, 2000). Paige, Benjamin I., and Greenberg, Edward S. The Struggle for Democracy. (Longman, 2002). Moore, Michael. Stupid White Men. (HarperCollins, 2001). Word Count: 1692
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