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The Kyoto Protocol


The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement forged in Kyoto Japan in December of 1997 that seeks to limit world greenhouse gas emissions to slow the progress of global warming. The Protocol entered into force on February 16th, 2005 after ratification by Russia in November of 2004.

Background There is a lengthy history of governmental negotiations leading up to the crafting of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. In 1972, the first World Summit was convened in Stockholm Sweden, at which time governmental leaders declared the intention of reconvening every ten years in order to reassess the health of the planet.

fuji mountain japan

The 1982 summit held in Nairobi, Kenya was such a dismal failure, though (due to tensions between the Soviets and Western governments), that it was never considered to have been a true "Earth Summit," and it was not until 1992 that the Second Earth Summit was convened in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was at this summit that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was finalized for ratification.



United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) of 1992

During the 1980's, prior to the 1992 Second Earth Summit, attention was being paid to the possibility that climate change was under way as a result of human activities, and in 1987, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was formed by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), "to assess the available scientific, technical and socio-economic information in the field of climate change." In 1990, the first report of the IPCC was released. It called for immediate action to avoid the effects of a warming climate. This report was supported by representatives at the Second World Climate Conference which occurred later that same year. Immediate negotiation of a framework convention on climate change was called for by the representatives of this second climate conference. The UN General Assembly created a committee to draft a treaty for the Second Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. That treaty, now known as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), was subsequently accepted and signed by more than 150 nations represented at the Rio Conference. Kyoto Protocol.

The ultimate objective of the UNFCCC was: "Stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system." It stated further that "such a level should be achieved within a time-frame sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change and to insure that food production is not threatened and to enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner."

Countries ratifying the convention agreed:

  1. To develop programs to slow climate change
  2. To share technology and cooperate to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
  3. To develop a greenhouse gas inventory listing national sources and sinks

At the Second Earth Summit in Rio, it was generally agreed that the responsibility falls upon the developed nations to lead the fight against climate change, as they are largely responsible for the current concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The original target for emission reductions that was generally accepted in 1992 was that the developed nations should, at a minimum, seek to return to 1990 levels of emissions by the year 2000. Additionally, developed nations should provide financial and technological aid and assistance to the developing nations to produce inventories and work toward more efficient energy use. Kyoto Protocol.

The parties to the Framework Convention agreed to meet annually in order to develop realistic mechanisms to meet the goals of the Convention; the first meeting, or "Conference of the Parties" (COP), was held in 1995 in Rome, Italy (COP1), the second (COP2) in Geneva, Switzerland, and the third Conference of the Parties (COP3) was scheduled to be held in Kyoto, Japan in 1997 to implement legally binding agreements on greenhouse gas emissions.

The Dilemma of Equitable Emissions Reductions

There are inherent conflicts of interest related to the issue of climate change. Traditional points of digression between developed and developing nations of the world become overwhelmingly apparent during climate change negotiations. The developed world has a relatively high standard of living in comparison to the developing world. The developed world is largely responsible for the current dangerous levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, yet the developing world will likely be hit the hardest by the outcomes of climate change.

Concern about the rates of population growth and future industrial growth in developing nations has caused industrialized nations to demand that developing nations be bound by any agreement on emissions reductions. The developing nations argue that they don't possess the economic or technological resources to buy into an agreement yet. They see the demands of the developed nations as an attempt to stifle their economic and industrial growth, while they are desperately striving for a higher standard of living and a better life. They ask why they should be responsible for remediating a mess they did not create. Kyoto Protocol.

In the United States, reservations about the lack of commitment by developing nations led to the passage of the non-binding Byrd-Hagel Resolution the U.S. Congress in early 1997. The resolution had two main points:

  1. The U.S. will not enter into an agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that will be detrimental to the economy of the U.S.
  2. The U.S. will not enter into an agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that does not require "meaningful involvement" on the part of developing nations.

While this resolution was an effort to safeguard U.S. interests, it became a significant psychological and legal impediment to stringent restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions. Such obvious reservations about emissions reductions on the part of the world's richest and most powerful nation did not foster optimism about the likelihood of an aggressive international agreement to curb climate change. While the Clinton administration would ultimately send a delegation to help negotiate the Kyoto Protocol, it was faced with the challenge of satisfying the requirements laid out in the Byrd-Hagel resolution and then garnering enough support for Senate ratification, ultimately a fruitless task.

The Kyoto Conference of 1997

In December of 1997 the countries which met in Rio in 1992 re-convened in Kyoto to develop a set of legally binding agreements on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Prior to the conference several developed nations had made proposals outlining the extent to which reductions should take place. The U.S. proposed that nations should be required to stabilize their greenhouse gas emissions at 1990 levels in the interval 2008 -2012. (Keep in mind that is 8 -12 years later than was proposed as a minimum target in Rio). The European Union proposed that nations should be required to reduce their emissions to 15% below 1990 levels by the year 2010. Kyoto Protocol.

Kyoto was not just a meeting of delegates sent by each nation to discuss and draft a greenhouse gas reductions agreement, but rather, it was a collection of representatives from every organization with a vested interest in the outcome of the agreement, from lobbyists for oil and coal corporations, to the directors and chairmen of NGO's (non-governmental organizations) like Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund, to ecologists and climatologists studying the issue of warming, to the handful of greenhouse skeptics, to numerous representative from the U.S. Congress. The stakes in this type of agreement are high and the chasm between the developed and developing nations becomes that much wider and more apparent.

After 10 days of discussion and occasional heated debate, the delegates at the Kyoto Conference reached an agreement. The Kyoto Protocol calls for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions for several industrialized nations below 1990 levels by 2008-2012. The U.S. agreed to a 7% reduction, and the European Union and Japan agreed to 8% and 6% reductions, respectively. Twenty-one other industrialized nations agreed to similar binding targets. The Protocol allows for the trading of "emissions quotas" among industrialized nations, a significant victory for the United States. Emissions trading would allow nations that failed to meet their binding targets to purchase emissions credits from nations that had emissions levels that were lower than their required targets. This would allow a nation like the U.S. that has high emissions levels, but also a lot of capital, to satisfy the agreement. However, despite adamant opposition by the U.S. and other industrialized nations, the Protocol also indicated that there would be no binding commitments required of developing countries.

Ratification in 2005

In order to be implemented, the Kyoto Protocol had to be ratified by national governments the world over. At least 55 parties to the convention (from among 176 nations) were needed to ratify the Protocol and the ratifying countries had to account for more than 55% of 1990 greenhouse gas emissions in order for the Protocol to become international law. Since the United States and Russia were responsible for 36% and 17%, respectively, of 1990 greenhouse gas emissions, these two countries were seen as key players, with the ratification of at least one of the two countries essential for implementation of the Protocol.

When the second Bush administration withdrew the United States from the Kyoto Protocol in 2001, it was seen by some as sounding the death knell for the ratification process. The US Administration claimed that the science was unsound and argued that adherence to the provisions of the Protocol would be harmful to the US economy. Russia used similar arguments to forestall ratification, but eventually was persuaded by the possibility of advantageous emissions trading coupled with pressure from the European Union in return for the EU's support of Russia's admission to the World Trade Organization. As of February 16, 2005, 141 nations had ratified the Protocol, accounting for 61.6% of 1990 greenhouse gas emission (Source: UNFCC Kyoto Protocol Thermometer), and the Protocol entered into force, ninety days after ratification by the Russian Duma, or lower house of parliament.

What is the Impact?

Even if the Protocol were implemented by all parties to the Kyoto conference, it would result in a just a 5.2% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions below 1990 levels, reducing anthropogenic emissions from around 7.2 billions tons per year to about 6.8 billion tons per year. From an environmental standpoint, this agreement falls woefully short of measures needed to head off the warming of the earth. Most scientists studying this issue are calling for a stabilization of the composition of the atmosphere. That would mean emissions reductions on the order of 50% of 1990 levels in addition to the cessation of widescale deforestation, also a contributor to greenhouse gas accumulation. The Kyoto Protocol is seen by most environmentalists as a tiny step in the right direction.
However, human action is essential. As stated by George M. Woodwell, Director of The Woods Hole Research Center, "There is at the moment no obvious mechanism that will slow, stop, or otherwise deflect the warming short of stabilization of the composition of the atmosphere by human action."



GLOBAL WARMING ARTICLE
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Global Warming : Earth at Warmest in 400 Years.
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The Kyoto Protocol
The Culprits
Global warming 'threatens Earth with mass extinction'
Global Warming : What the Skeptics Don't Tell You
Potential Outcome


Three known human actions can move towards the stabilization of the composition of the atmosphere:
- Decreasing the use of fossil fuels by switching to renewable energy resources
- Decreasing or eliminating deforestation
- Increasing rates of reforestation Immediate action is imperative when the time scales of remediation are considered. Kyoto Protocol.
Source : www.whrc.org


K Y O T O

Kyoto, (pop. 1,467,705), is one of Japan's largest cities. It lies on Honshu Island, about 27 miles (43 kilometers) inland from the industrial center of Osaka. Kyoto was Japan's capital from A.D. 794 to 1868, and it became the home of many of the country's cultural treasures.
Kyoto is an important religious center, with many Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines housing priceless works of art. One of the most beautiful sights, the Golden Pavilion, was built in 1397 and rebuilt in the 1950's. Deputies of the Tokugawa shoguns lived in Nijo Castle from the 1600's to the 1800's. The Imperial Palace, first erected in A.D. 794, was rebuilt in 1855.
The city has many institutions of higher education, including the government-controlled Kyoto University, and Doshisha University, a Protestant school.
Workers in small factories produce exquisite textile, ceramic, lacquer, and cloisonne goods. Weaving and dyeing silks is an important industry.
Emperor Kammu established Japan's capital at Kyoto in A.D. 794. He called it Heian-kyo, meaning capital of peace and tranquillity. Many Japanese called it Miyako, meaning imperial city, or Kyoto, meaning capital city. Tokyo replaced Kyoto as the capital in 1868. Kyoto was the only major Japanese city which escaped bombing during World War II (1939-1945).

J A P A N

Japan is an island country in the North Pacific Ocean. It lies off the east coast of mainland Asia across from Russia, Korea, and China. Four large islands and thousands of smaller ones make up Japan. The four major islands-Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku-form a curve that extends for about 1,200 miles (1,900 kilometers). About 127 million people are crowded on these islands, making Japan one of the most densely populated countries in the world.

The Japanese call their country Nippon or Nihon, which means source of the sun. The name Japanmay have come from Zipangu, the Italian name given to the country by Marco Polo, a Venetian traveler of the late 1200's. Polo had heard of the Japanese islands while traveling through China.

Mountains and hills cover most of Japan, making it a country of great beauty. But the mountains and hills take up so much area that the great majority of the people live on a small portion of the land-narrow plains along the coasts. These coastal plains have much of Japan's best farmland and most of the country's major cities. Most of the people live in urban areas. Japan's big cities are busy, modern centers of culture, commerce, and industry. Tokyo is the capital and largest city.

Japan is one of the world's economic giants. Its total economic output is exceeded only by that of the United States. The Japanese manufacture a wide variety of products, including automobiles, computers, steel, television sets, textiles, and tires. The country's factories have some of the most advanced equipment in the world. Japan has become a major economic power even though it has few natural resources. Japan imports many of the raw materials needed for industry and exports finished manufactured goods.

Life in Japan reflects the culture of both the East and the West. For example, the favorite sporting events in the country are baseball games and exhibitions of sumo, an ancient Japanese style of wrestling. Although most Japanese wear Western-style clothing, many women dress in the traditional kimono for festivals and other special occasions. The Japanese no and kabuki dramas, both hundreds of years old, remain popular. But the Japanese people also flock to see motion pictures and rock music groups. Many Japanese artworks combine traditional and Western styles and themes.


   
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Warming is less over ocean than over land because of the great heat capacity of the deep-mixing ocean, which causes warming to occur more slowly there. Hansen and his colleagues in New York collaborated with David Lea and Martin of UCSB to obtain comparisons of recent temperatures with the history of the Earth over the past million years. The California researchers obtained a record of tropical ocean surface temperatures from the magnesium content in the shells of microscopic sea surface animals, as recorded in ocean sediments. One of the findings from this collaboration is that the Western Equatorial Pacific and Indian Oceans are now as warm as, or warmer than, at any prior time in the Holocene. The Holocene is the relatively warm period that has existed for almost 12,000 years, since the end of the last major ice age. The Western Pacific and Indian Oceans are important because, as these researchers show, temperature change there is indicative of global temperature change. Therefore, by inference, the world as a whole is now as warm as, or warmer than, at any time in the Holocene. According to Lea, "The Western Pacific is important for another reason, too: it is a major source of heat for the world's oceans and for the global atmosphere." In contrast to the Western Pacific, the researchers find that the Eastern Pacific Ocean has not shown an equal magnitude of warming. They explain Kyoto Protocol the lesser warming in the East Pacific Ocean, near South America, as being due to the fact this region is kept cool by upwelling, rising of deeper colder water to shallower depths. The deep ocean layers have not yet been affected much by human-made warming. Hansen and his colleagues suggest that the increased temperature difference between the Western and Eastern Pacific may boost the likelihood of strong El Nino, such as those of 1983 and 1998. An El Nino is an event that typically occurs every several years when the warm surface waters in the West Pacific slosh eastward toward South America, in the process altering weather patterns around the world. The most important result found by these researchers is that the warming in recent decades has brought global temperature to a level within about one degree Celsius (1.8°F) of the maximum temperature of the past million years. According to Hansen, "That means that further global warming of 1 degree Celsius defines a critical level. If warming is kept less than that, effects of global warming may be relatively manageable. During the warmest interglacial periods the Earth was reasonably similar to today. But if further global warming reaches 2 or 3 degrees Celsius, we will likely see changes that make Earth a different planet than the one we know. The last time it was that warm was in the middle Pliocene, about three million years ago, when sea level was estimated to have been about 25 meters (80 feet) higher than today." Global warming is already beginning to have noticeable effects in nature. Plants and animals can survive only within certain climatic zones, so with the warming of recent decades many of them are beginning pole ward. A study that appeared in Nature Magazine in 2003 found that 1700 plant, animal and insect species moved pole ward at an average rate of 6 kilometers (about 4 miles) per decade in the last half of the 20th century. That migration rate is not fast enough to keep up with the current rate of movement of a given temperature zone, which has reached about 40 kilometers (about 25 miles) per decade in the period 1975 to 2005 ."Rapid movement of climatic zones is going to be another stress on wildlife," according to Hansen. "It adds to the stress of habitat loss due to human developments. If we do not slow down the rate of global warming, Kyoto Protocol many species are likely to become extinct. In effect we are pushing them off the planet." The real danger for our entire civilization comes not from slow climate changes, but from overheating the planetary interior. Galileo discovered that Earth moves. Copernicus discovered that Earth moves around the Sun. In 2000 inspired report, discovered that the solid nucleus of our planet is in principle a nuclear reactor, it is eccentric, and that our collective ignorance may cause it to overheat and explode. The discovery has been published in June 2001 by the new scientific journal NUJournal.net. Polar ice caps melt not because the air there is warmer than 0 deg Celsius, but because they are overheated from underneath. Volcanoes become active and erupt violently not because the Earth's interior "crystallizes", but because the planetary nucleus is a nuclear fission reactor that needs COOLING. It seems that the currently adopted doctrine of a "crystalline inner core of Earth" is more dangerous for humanity than all weapons of mass destruction taken together, because it prevents us from imagining, predicting and preventing truly global disasters. In any nuclear reactor, the danger of overheating has to be recognized early. When external symptoms intensify it is usually too late to prevent disaster. Do we have enough imagination, intelligence and integrity to comprehend the danger before the situation becomes irreversible? It seems that if we do not do anything today about Greenhouse Emissions that cause the entire atmosphere to trap more Solar Heat, we may not survive the next decade. In a systematically under-cooled spherical core reactor the cumulative cause-effect relationship is hyperbolic and leads to explosion. It seems that there will be no second chance... If you doubt whether a planet can explode - you need to see a witness report of a planetary explosion in on global warming our Solar system. Plato (428-348 BC) reported that the explosion of the planet Phaeton had been perceived by our ancestors on Earth to be as bright as lightning. The last few years were the WARMEST ever recorded on Earth. The trend continues. Huge parts of Antarctic and Arctic ice global warming information have already melted. Key Antarctic glaciers (Green and Evans for example) increased their melting rate 8 times in 3 years (between 2000 and 2003, glaciers begin to slide to the ocean the sea level rise will cause not only tsunamis but a global planetary flood. Volcanoes become effect of global warming active under Arctic Ocean and in Antarctica In the past, volcanic activity was followed by decades of dormancy. Today, when volcanoes erupt they remain active and the neighboring volcanoes erupt... The Largest Volcanoes on Earth have lost their snow-caps Oceans are warmer than ever. Their increased evaporation produces large amount of clouds, rain and widespread flooding Oceans around Antarctica at depths of 5 km are less salty and less dense confirming that Antarctica is melting from underneath. The fresh water is lighter than salt water, so it should be on top about global warming. In heated oceans all currents are severely disrupted Mountain glaciers melt around the globe the weather around the globe becomes more violent every month Trees begun to BLOOM in winter. Photo on the left show Australian black wood trees blooming in August (Mt Best, Victoria). This is equivalent to European and USA trees blooming in February. Plants detect "season" by monitoring the soil temperature. Energy of earthquakes systematically increases. The graph on the left depicts the annual quake energy since record begun in 1973, computed on the basis of USGS scientific data from all quakes above 4.0 1973. The data is compared (scaled) to 1973 quake energy. The energy of earth 7.0 and above increased 6 times in the same period... According to the current "scientific" dogmas, the planetary interior "crystallizes" and becomes less liquid as the time goes on. So, tectonic plate motion should become slower in time and quakes should become less frequent and less energetic. The evidence presented in the graph on the left demonstrates exactly the opposite. In the period of time when the planetary climate changed by a small fraction of one degree, earthquakes have become 5 times more energetic. I wonder why no one on Earth makes any notice of NASA measurements confirm (Science 308, 1431-1435) that Earth absorbs more energy from the Sun that it is able to reflect to space - about 0.85 Mega Watt per square kilometer more. Pollution increases daily and Solar activity is on the increase until 2012. Global increase in tectonic, volcanic and seismic activity seems certain. Have we reached the point of no return? Some people claim that the observable earthquake energy rise is due and/or "increasing the number of seismic stations". This claim cannot be true. Waves from large quakes travel around the globe and are detectable ANYWHERE. Since time of Cold War there is enough seismic stations on Earth to pin-point location of a nuclear explosion (a quake 4.0) within a few km. Increasing number of seismic stations and better equipment can only be responsible for the increase in the number of "small" quakes being detected. The global energy of "small" earthquakes (below 7.0) increased only by 40% since 1973. In contrast, the global energy of quakes 7.0 and above increased 6 times in the same period. This is not any theory. It is an observable FACT. What causes an 8-fold increase in Antarctic glacier melting in just 3 years? Sun does not deliver 8 times the energy under the Antarctic ice does it? Some scientists predict that effects of "global warming" will take many decades. Can they explain the increase of the melting rate of Antarctic glaciers 8 times in 3 years? Overheating of the fission heated planetary interior can... "Climate change" cannot explain why deep Antarctic Ocean gets less salty and less dense. Overheating of the fission heated planetary interior can... Antarctica is just about the only left available for the planetary interior. The matter seems URGENT global warming pictures. Please forward this page (or the link to it) to ANY scientist or person of integrity whom you know. Our ONLY chance seems to be to UNDERSTAND and PROVE to everyone what will happen if we do not change our attitude to atmospheric pollution. Avoid the mass media - it seems that they are controlled by those who run the "economy" and are interested in keeping humanity misinformed to the greatest extent possible. To withhold, distort or otherwise interfere with the truth about the Planetary Core is a Crime against Humanity - one of the greatest crimes that man can commit. Money cannot save the Planet. Only Understanding can. Focus Kyoto Protocolon Understanding. It cannot be undone. Solar radiation. global warming facts. interacts with the surface of the earth in several ways. Some portion of this energy is reflected back into space by the earth's atmosphere, another portion is dispersed and scattered by the molecules in the atmosphere and a large portion penetrates through the earth's atmosphere to reach the surface of the earth. The radiation reaching the earth's surface is largely absorbed resulting in surface warming much of this absorbed global warming causes energy is eventually re-radiated in longer infrared wavelengths. As it leaves the earth, it once again interacts with the atmosphere. Some of this re-radiated energy escapes to space, but much of this re-radiated energy is reflected back to the earth's surface by molecules in the earth's atmosphere. This phenomenon is similar effects global warming to the warming that occurs in an automobile parked outside on a sunny day. The molecules responsible global warming effect for this phenomenon are called greenhouse gases, i.e. water (H2O), nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4), and carbon dioxide (CO2) because they act like the glass in a greenhouse, trapping re-radiated energy. Without these gases most life on earth would not be possible, as the surface temperature of the earth would likely be about 60°F colder. In essence, greenhouse gases act like an insulator or blanket above the earth, global warming graphs keeping the heat in. Increasing the concentration of these gases in the atmosphere increases the atmosphere's ability to block the escape of infrared radiation. In other words, climate change global warming the earth's insulator gets thicker. Therefore too great a concentration of greenhouse gases can have dramatic effects on climate and significant repercussions upon the world around us. Climates suitable for human existence do not exist simply above some minimum threshold level of greenhouse gas exist within a finite window - a limited range of greenhouse gas concentrations that makes life as we know it possible. GLOBAL WARMING Earth at Warmest in 400 Years. There is sufficient evidence from tree rings, boreholes, retreating glaciers, and other "proxies" of past surface temperatures to say with a high level of confidence that the last few decades of the 20th century were warmer than any comparable period in the last 400 years, according to a new report from the National Research Council. Less confidence can be placed in proxy-based reconstructions of surface temperatures for A.D. 900 to 1600, said the committee that wrote the report, although the available proxy evidence does indicate that many locations were warmer during the past 25 years than during any other 25-year period since 900. Very little confidence can be placed in statements about average global surface global warming consequences temperatures prior to A.D. 900 because the proxy data for that time frame are the committee added 2006 on pace to be warmest year on record in the US. The average temperature for the continental United States from January through June 2006 was the warmest first half of any year since records began in 1895, according to scientists at the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) World temperatures highest in 1200 years. World temperatures are higher than in any period over the last 1,200 years, according to a study published in the current issue of Science. In reaching their conclusion, a research team from the University of East Anglia in Britain analyzed 14 sets of temperature records including data from rings, fossil shells, ice cores, temperature records, and historical documents from North America, Europe and East Asia. Carbon highest in 650,000 years. Carbon dioxide levels are now 27 percent higher than at any point in the last 650,000 years, according to research into Antarctic ice cores published on Thursday in Science. Analysis of carbon dioxide in the ancient Antarctic ice showed that at no point in the past 650,000 years did levels approach today's carbon dioxide concentrations of around 380 parts per million The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projects that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels could reach 450-550 ppm by 2050, possibly resulting in higher temperatures and rising sea levels. There is fear that climate change could create a class of environmental refugees displaced from their homes by rising oceans, increasingly catastrophic weather, and expanding deserts. NASA Study Finds World Warmth Edging Ancient Levels A new study by NASA scientists finds that the world's temperature is reaching a level that has not been seen in thousands of years. The study, led by James Hansen of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, N.Y., along with scientists from other organizations concludes that, because of a rapid warming trend over the past 30 years, the Earth is now reaching and passing through the warmest levels in the current interglacial period, which has lasted nearly 12,000 years. An "interglacial period" is a time in the Earth's history when the area of Earth covered by glaciers was similar or smaller than at the present time. Recent warming is forcing species of plants and animals to move Kyoto Protocol toward the north and south poles. The study used temperatures around the world taken during the last century. Scientists concluded that these data showed the Earth has been warming at the remarkably rapid rate of approximately 0.36° Fahrenheit (0.2° Celsius) per decade for the past 30 years. "This evidence implies that we are getting close to dangerous levels of human-made pollution," said Hansen. In recent decades, human-made greenhouse gases have become the largest climate change factor. Greenhouse gases trap heat in the Earth's atmosphere and warm the surface. Some greenhouse gases, which include water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone, occur naturally, while others are due to human activities. The study notes that the world's warming is greatest at high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, and it is larger over land than over ocean areas. The enhanced warming at high latitudes is attributed to effects of ice and snow. As the Earth warms, snow and ice melt, uncovering darker surfaces that absorb more sunlight and increase warming, a process called a positive feedback.