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While the government focuses on foreign policies and war issues, humanity’s quality of life is slowly diminishing. American’s priorities are not in line; the planet’s well being must come first.
Global warming is rapidly occurring. The term greenhouse effect refers to the pollutants that collect in the atmosphere trapping the sun’s heat. The rising temperatures are the consequence of emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
These gases result from human activities such as industrial processes, driving, and deforestation. Americans are the largest culprits in contributing to global warming. Despite representing only 4 percent of the world’s population, Americans produce a quarter of the carbon dioxide pollution. This is more than China, India, and Japan produce combined.
The effects of global warming can be seen around the world. In 2002, Colorado, Arizona and Oregon endured record wildfire seasons. The same year resulted in droughts and dust storms in Montana, Colorado and Kansas. Floods in Texas, Montana and North Dakota caused hundreds of millions worth of damage. In 2003, heat waves killed more than 21,500 in Europe and India. The polar ice caps are beginning to melt and will continue to shrink causing areas to flood.
Nicholas Stern, chief British government economist, published a report on estimated climate change. With an increase of just 1 degree Fahrenheit, shrinking glaciers will threaten water for 50 million people. This will also bleach 80 percent of coral reefs. A 3-degree increase will mean 1 to 4 billion more people will suffer water shortages. Also, close to half the Arctic tundra will diminish. An increase of 5 degrees could mean the disappearance of large glaciers in Himalayas; this would affect one-fourth of China's population and many parts of India. The rise in sea level would also threaten small islands and coastal areas such as Florida. This would affect major cities such as...