Environment and Global Warming
Global warming is a gradual increase in the average temperature of the earth’s lower atmosphere as a result of the increase in greenhouse gases since the Industrial Revolution. Much of the recent observed and projected global warming is human-induced. It is caused by man-made increases in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases through the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. Adding carbon dioxide, methane and such other gases (that have the potential to absorb heat) to the atmosphere with no other changes will make our planet’s surface warmer. The atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and CH4 have increased by 31 per cent and 149 per cent respectively above pre-industrial levels since 1750. During the past century, the atmospheric temperature has risen by 1.1°F (0.6°C) and sea level has risen several inches. Some of the longer-term results of global warming are melting of polar ice with a resulting rise in sea level and coastal flooding; disruption of drinking water supplies dependent on snow melts; extinction of species as ecological niches disappear; more frequent tropical storms; and an increased incidence of tropical diseases. A UN Conference on Climate Change, held in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997, resulted in an international agreement to fight global warming which called for reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases by industrialised nations.
Which of the following agreement took place to deal with the global warming issues?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Kyoto Protocol
The passage ends with a UN Conference on Climate Change held in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997. There countries agreed that industrialised nations would reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases, the gases that hold heat in the air. This international agreement to fight global warming is named after the city: the Kyoto Protocol.
Why the other options are incorrect
Option (1) Montreal Protocol — Incorrect. The Montreal Protocol deals with ozone depletion: it banned the use of chlorofluorocarbons and other ozone-depleting chemicals. Its subject is the ozone layer, not global warming.
Option (2) Stockholm Summit — Incorrect. The Stockholm conference of 1972 was the first UN conference on the human environment in general; it produced no agreement to cut greenhouse gases.
Option (4) Copenhagen Protocol — Incorrect. There is no such protocol.
Note: This passage is Box 7.1, ‘Global Warming’, of the Environment and Sustainable Development chapter of the NCERT book, reproduced almost word for word. Read every chapter thoroughly, boxes included.