Global Warming - Is it a real threat? If it is, does America have a responsibility to sign the Kyoto Protocol?

There is widespread agreement among many scientific sources that the earth’s temperature has risen about 1 degree Fahrenheit over the last century. There is widespread disagreement – both within and outside of the scientific community – over the significance of this temperature rise. The major concern is that this temperature rise could be a harbinger of dramatic climate change which will affect the entire world negatively – rising water levels along coast lines, altered rainfall patterns, etc.

Under the auspices of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, in 1997 the United States participated in a forum in Kyoto, Japan, where many nations addressed the possible causes, effects and impacts of global warming. A protocol was issued which called for all nations participating in the forum to endorse a plan to rapidly decrease greenhouse gas emissions. The protocol called for western nations, particularly the United States, to implement changes in manufacturing, transportation and consumption habits that would cut greenhouse emissions, but would also be expensive, while lesser developed nations would be allowed less expensive measure at a ore leisurely pace. Proponents of signing the protocol argue that western nations, particularly the U.S.A., produce far more greenhouse emissions than poorer countries. Opponents in the U.S.A. argue that the risk of potential damage to our economy outweighs the currently provable effects of global warming. To date, the U.S.A. has refused to sign the protocol.