Global warming, conserving the environment, carbon emission. These vocabularies have become the latest ‘it’ thing in not just Singapore, but everywhere else in the world over the last decade as global warming and its effect struck mankind unbridledly.
With people conducting an inadvertent global experiment by changing the face of the entire planet, the earth’s climate has changed due to these human activities as we have altered the chemical composition of the atmosphere through the build up of greenhouse gases, primarily, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. This alteration is the fountainhead of the multitudinous predicaments that will begin to arise in the forthcoming decades.
There are legions of online offset conglomerate (just to name a few, carbontracker.com, carbonfootprint.com) on the internet that we could disburse for them to help us plant trees. For example, at carbonfootprint.com, we can compute our quota of carbon footprint and offset our carbon emission by planting a tree in UK or Kenya.
Carbon offsetting maybe one of the superlative approach to diminish carbon emission, as forests are noted as the 'Green Lungs of the Earth', nonetheless the skepticism is, how many people will ungrudgingly minimise their lifestyle’s detrimental impact on the biosphere by furnishing finances to plant trees? The dubiousness is further amplified when official offsets, sanctioned under the Kyoto Protocol, controlled by tight rules and a complex bureaucracy, allow governments and companies to earn carbon credits that can be traded, is not bringing down carbon emission as effectual as designated in the Protocol.
Apostles of the Kyoto Protocol assert that reducing these hazardous outpourings is of paramount significance, as carbon dioxide is 'producer' of the earth's atmosphere's heat up. When there is subscribe to the Protocol, there will also be antipathy coming in its way. To my way of thinking, I am of the opinion that, the Protocol is inadequate in axing greenhouse emissions. In particular, Niue Fekai added notes to this effect when signing the Protocol, “In this regard, the Government of Niue further declares that, in light of the best available scientific information and assessment of climate change and impacts, it considers the emissions reduction obligations in Article 3 of the Kyoto Protocol to be inadequate to prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.”
The rationale to blame for why the Protocol has not reached its maximum beneficial because, the standards of the Protocol, like Al Gore's call for a reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are 'big' propositions that needed the 'big' wherewithal. Regrettably, no country is willing to expend when the Protocol is said as a proposal to either slow the development of the world's industrial democracies or to transfer wealth to the third world as a global socialism initiative.
In addition, like many I see the costs of the Kyoto Protocol as outweighing its boons, and the criterions which the Protocol sets to be too optimistic, or even highly inequitable and inefficient agreement which would do little to lessen greenhouse gas emissions. The speed at which countries are curbing carbon emission is too protracted, and the standards of the Protocol has set will not be match up to in the coming times as many developed and developing countries are take greater interest in their economic growths.
Carbon offsetting just makes us less wrongdoing by ‘reducing’ our carbon emission when we plant tree to absorb them in during photosynthesis. Hence, the war against global warming is totally purposeless when we do not change our lifestyle.
In conclusion, our only pipe dream is a radical technology breakthrough.
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